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Program of exercises for North Carolina Day

Program of exercises for North Carolina Day, local history : Friday, December 22, 1911

PROGRAM OF EXERCISES
FOR
NORTH CAROLINA DAY
(LOCAL HISTORY)
FRIDAY. DECEMBER 22. 1911
PREPARED BY
R. D. W. CONNOR,
Secretary of the North Carolina Historical Commission
A people who have not the pride to record their history will not long have
the virtue to make history that is worth recording.
ISSUED FROM THE OFFICE OF THE
STATE SUPERINTENDENT OF PUBLIC INSTRUCTION
RALEIGH, N. C.
CHAPTER 164
OF THE PUBLIC LAWS OF 1901
An Act to Provide for the Celebration of North Carolina Day in the
Public Schools.
The General Assembly of North Carolina do enact:
Section 1. That the 12th day of October in each and every year, to
be called "North Carolina Day," may be devoted, by appropriate exer-cises
in the public schools of the State, to the consideration of some
topic or topics of our State history, to be selected by the Superintend-ent
of Public Instruction : Provided, that if the said day shall fall on
Saturday or Sunday, then the celebration shall occur on the Monday
next following: Provided further, that if the said day shall fall at a
time when any such schools may not be in session, the celebration may
be held within one month from the beginning of the term, unless the
Superintendent of Public Instruction shall designate some other time.
Sec. 2. This act shall be in force from and after its ratification.
In the General Assembly read three times, and ratified this the 9th
day of February, A. D. 1901.
PREFACE.
As many of the public schools are not in session as early as October
12th, I have taken the liberty allowed under the law of fixing the date
of North Carolina Day this year and hereafter on the last Friday before
Christmas. It is earnestly desired that all the public schools of the
State shall engage in this celebration on the same day. This pamphlet
has been prepared and sent out to aid busy teachers in the proper cele-bration
of the day and to leave no excuse for failing to celebrate it.
The consecration of at least one day in the year to the public consid-eration
of the history of the State in the public schools, as directed by
the act of the General . Assembly printed on the preceding page,
is a beautiful idea. It is the duty of every public school teacher
to obey the letter of this law. It will, I know, be the pleasure of every
patriotic teacher to obey the spirit of it by using the opportunity of
North Carolina Day to inspire the children with a new pride in their
State, a new enthusiasm for the study of her history, and a new love
of her and her people.
Following the chronological order of the State's history, the subjects
of the North Carolina Day programs have been as follows: In 1901;
The first Anglo-Saxon Settlement in America; in 1902, The Albemarle
Section; in 1903, The Lower Cape Fear Section; in 1904, The Pamlico
Section; in 1905, The Upper Cape Fear Section; in 1907, The Scotch-
Irish Settlements in North Carolina ; in 1908, The German Settlements.
In 1906 it was deemed proper to turn aside from this adopted plan of
chronological study to devote the day to the study of the life, character
and splendid service of Dr. Charles D. Mclver. In 1909 the Moun-tainous
Section formed the subject of study. Thus the history of every
section of the State has been studied, somewhat in the order of their
settlement and development, and the entire period of the State's history
has been covered. It is hoped this year to stimulate a study of local
and county history and the biographies of the State's eminent sons.
These programs have been arranged with a view of giving the chil-I
dren of the rising generation a knowledge of the history of the re-
1
sources, manners, customs and ways of making a living of the different!
sections of the State. It is hoped in this way to awaken a proper pride!
in the history of the State, to inspire a proper confidence in its presents
and hope in its future, and to give the people of the different sections!
of the State a better acquaintance with each other.
This pamphlet was prepared, at my request, by Mr. R. D. W. Connorji
Secretary of the North Carolina Historical Commission.
Very truly yours,
J. Y. JoYNER,
Superintendent of Public Instruction.
Raleigh, N. C, October 1, 1911.
TO THE TEACHER.
The State Superintendent of Public Instruction has decided that
North Carolina Day this year will be used to stimulate an interest in
local history—that is to say the history of the county, the town, the
rural community, the school. This means, of course, that no two coun-ties
will have the same program, indeed, no two schools in the same
county, or even in the same township will have precisely similar pro-grams.
It is accordingly impossible in such a pamphlet as this to do
more than give very general suggestions, which each school must adapt
to its own needs.
Such a program will require much more original work on the part
of pupils and teachers than the former ones. They must decide for
themselves what topics will be presented, must collect their own data,
and, with such exceptions as the songs and recitations included in this
pamphlet, must prepare their own numbers. Perhaps this will seem
difficult at first. Yery well ; so much the better. The pupils will appre-ciate
the results of their work more. But as they proceed difficulties
will be cleared out of the way; much more data will be gathered than
at first will be supposed possible. As this work is done from year to
year the data will finally be available for a real history of the county;
and nothing in historical work is more needed in North Carolina than
good local histories.
Never mind about the work being crude and immature. In spite of
crudeness and immaturity it will be worth infinitely more to the pupils
who do it than the study of books written by others can ever be. It
will give them at first hand some idea of what real study of history is,,
it will be their own, it will stimulate an interest in the county, in the
school, and in the State, and this is just what North Carolina Day is
intended to do. R. D. W. Connok.
October 15, 1911.
THE OLD NORTH STATE.
BY WILLIAM GASTON.
Carolina! Carolina! Heaven's blessings attend her!
While we live we will cherish, protect and defend her;
Though the scorner may sneer at and witlings defame her,
Our hearts swell with gladness whenever we name her.
Hurrah! Hurrah! the Old North State forever!
Hurrah! Hurrah! the good Old North State!
Though she envies not others their merited glory,
Say, whose name stands the foremost in Liberty's story?
Though too true to herself e'er to crouch to oppression,
Who can yield to just rule more loyal submission?
Hurrah, etc. '
Plain and artless her sons, but whose doors open faster
At the knock of a stranger, or the tale of disaster?
How like to the rudeness of their dear native mountains,
With rich ore in their bosoms and life in their fountains.
Hurrah, etc.
And her daughters, the Queen of the Forest resembling
—
So graceful, so constant, yet to gentlest breath trembling;
And true lightwood at heart, let the match be applied them,
How they kindle and flame! O! none know but who've tried them.
Hurrah, etc.
Then let all who love us, love the land that we live in
(As happy a region as on this side of Heaven),
Where Plenty and Freedom, Love and Peace smile before us,
Raise aloud, raise together the heart-thrilling chorus!
Hurrah! Hurrah! the Old North State forever!
Hurrah! Hurrah! the good Old North State!
THE OLD NORTH STATE.
BY CHARLES B. AYCOCK.
A DECLAMATION.
(From an address delivered at the First North Carolina Reunion at Greensboro, October 12, 1903.)
In North Carolina liberty had its birth, and here it rejoices in its
fullest beauty. North Carolina was settled by men who found the
liberty of other Colonies and States short of their desires. English,
Virginians, French, New Englanders, Swiss, Germans, Scotch, Irish,
Huguenots, of whatever nationality they might be, they sought this
land in order that they might found a State which should be a fit home
for "the freest of the free." *******
When she had won her independence, North Carolina set such store
by it that she declined to join the American Union until the sover-eignty
of the State and the liberty of the individual had been provided
for by the proposal of the first ten amendments to the Constitution of
the United States. But, once in the Union, this State loved it. The
government was one of our own formation, and our people have ever
been willing to yield obedience to the laws of their own enactment.
Even when the people thought the Constitution had been violated, and
their rights infringed, their love for the Union was so great that with
singular unanimity they determined to remain in it, and secure, if
possible, under the Stars and Stripes, that protection to which they
felt themselves entitled. But when the other Southern States went out
of the Union, and we were brought face to face with the necessity of
taking sides, then our people in convention assembled, without a single
dissenting vote, went out of the Union, and sought at every c6st to
secure again that independence which our fathers had won. Late in
going out, this State offered the first life on the altar of the Southern
Confederacy. Having made up her mind to fight for independence,
she sent to the front more soldiers than there were voters within her
borders. She lost more men in killed and wounded than any other
Southern State; charged farthest at Gettysburg; laid down the greatest
number of guns at Appomattox, and quit the fight with as deep regret
as any of her sisters. I care not on which side one fought in that
great contest ; the achievements of North Carolina soldiers were too
great to excite bitterness in any breast that loves heroic sacrifice and
daring deeds. Her men won for humanity a still higher place for stub-born
courage than had theretofore been gained. They went into the
j fight reluctantly, because of their deep love for the Union which their
1 fathers had cemented with their blood. They went to the front well
| clothed, well fed, in high spirits, certain of success. They left at the
! end in tatters and rags, footsore and hungry, but their tears watered
i the ground where the greatest leader of soldiers, the highest type of
I Christian manhood, the purest and truest and the best of men, General
; Robert E. Lee, surrendered his sword. They came back to the State
; weary, worn and sorrowful. They found the population depleted.
I Their farms had gone to ruin, their fences were down, their ditches
8
were filled, their stock were slaughtered, in too many instances their
houses were burned. But they did not sit down in the desolation of
their despair. With a courage worthy of the great men who fought
during the Revolution, they turned their faces to the morning, put
their trust in God, and resolutely determined to build again their homes
and do honor to their mother for whom they had suffered so much.
And right well have they wrought. Today our fields abound with
harvest. From the mountains to the seashore there is abundance. There
is not, from Hatteras to Murphy, from Virginia to South Carolina,
a man, woman or child who is hungry today. North Carolina and
South Carolina manufacture sixty per cent of all the cotton manu-factured
in the South, and of this sixty per cent this State claims
over half. Our furniture factories, giving employment to thousands
of skilled laborers, sell their furniture in Grand Rapids, and take trib-ute
to their superior workmanship from every State in the Union. The
census shows that we more than doubled our investments in manufac-tures
in the last decade. We grow more cotton on less acreage than
ever before, while our tobacco crop in value exceeds that of any State
in the Union. Our vegetable gardens have grown into fields, and we
feed the crowding multitudes of the Eastern cities. In every depart-ment
of human activity your brothers here are forging to the front.
We stand in the morning, with our faces to the light, and gladly hear
the command that "we go forward." *******
In your travels you may have run across "the scorners who scoff
at and the witlings who defame" this State. You may have heard that
she is ignorant and provincial, but I tell you there can be found no-where
within her borders a man ignorant enough to join with the
fool in saying, "There is no God." There is no man amongst us whose
hand is so untrained that it does not instinctively seek his hat in the
presence of a woman. There is no ear so untaught that it does not
hear the cry of pity; and no heart so untutored that it does not beat
in sympathy with the weak and the distressed. Illiterate we have been
but ignorant, never. Books we have not known; but of men we have
learned, and of God we have sought to find out. "A gentle people
and open"; frank and courteous, passionate when aroused, and dan-gerous
in conflict. * * * * I am proud of their history ; prouc
of their character. * * * * If we have done well, it is becaus(
we were taught aright by those who went before us, taught at theii
expense; and credit belongs to them alone. We think we hold on t(
the truths which our fathers taught us. We believe that we still main,
tain a passion for liberty; that we love independence, and set mor<
store by honor than by wealth. * * * *
I greet you, ladies and gentlemen, in the name of our whole people
I extend to you all the liberties of the State, and invoke that piou
benediction of Tiny Tim, "God bless us every one."
OUTLINE FOR A COUNTY HISTORY.
TO THE TEACHER.
The following outline for a county history is intended to be merely
suggestive. In the case of most of the counties a single essay attempt-ing
to cover the entire outline would be much too long, and, besides,
the placing of such a task upon a single pupil would be too great a
burden. In such cases it is suggested that each of the seven main divi-sions
(indicated by Roman numerals) will form in itself a sufficient
topic for a single essay.
On the other hand, in many of the newer counties (counties without
Colonial or Revolutionary history, and others even without ante-bellum
or Civil War history, except in connection with the mother county),
a single essay may cover the entire history of the county without being
too long.
An interesting feature can be introduced by having some pupil read
the Act of the General Assembly creating the county. A copy can be
easily made from the Public Laws.
Much interesting history is involved in the names of the counties.
But frequently this history bears such remote connection with the his-tory
of North Carolina (as, for instance, in such cases as Columbus,
Anson, Bladen, Clay, Montgomery, New Hanover, Randolph, etc., etc.)
that it should form a very subordinate part in the program, a mere
mention of the origin of the county's name being all that is necessary.
See, for instance, Outline, III, 3.
On the other hand many counties bear the names of men who figured
largely in the history of North Carolina,—Davie, Graham, Macon,
Vance, Wilson, Harnett, Hoke, and others. In such cases it will be
well to have essays on their lives and careers take principal places on
the programs, thus giving general interest as well as local application
to the programs.
The same purpose can be accomplished in counties which have given
distinguished leaders, in civil, military, educational, agricultural, re-ligious,
commercial, or industrial affairs,—such, for instance, as Vance
in civil life; Howe in military; Charles D. Mclver or Braxton Craven
jin educational ; Edwin Holt in industrial affairs, etc., etc., by having
essays on the lives of such men form principal parts of the programs.
As an aid in such cases, a list of the members of the Continental Con-gress,
the governors of North Carolina (since 1776), the chief justices,
the speakers of the two houses of the General Assembly, and the United
States and Confederate States senators, with the counties in which they
ived at the time of their election, is included in this pamphlet. In
lot a few cases brief sketches of men prominent in their own counties
; >an be found in this pamphlet under the counties which bear their
lames ; for instance, Orange County claims among its citizens William
i. Graham and Thomas Burke; the Orange County pupil can find
ketches of these men under Graham and Burke Counties. Buncombe
laims Vance and Swain, sketches of whom can be found by the Bun-
10
combe pupil under the counties bearing those names. There are many
other similar cases.
OUTLINE
I. Geographical Features.
1. Size and location.
2. Surface.
3. Principal streams, sounds, lakes, etc.
4. Character of the soil.
5. Mora and fauna.
6. Other geographical features.
7. Influence of geography on the history and develop-ment
of the county.
II. Populat ion.
1. Racial elements
(a) English.
(b) French.
(c) Irish.
(d) German.
(e) Scotch.
(f ) Scotch-Irish.
(g) Negro.
2. Where they came from.
3. Reasons for their settling in North Carolina
(a) Social.
(b) Economic.
(c) Political.
(d) Religious.
4. Character of the people.
III. Organization of the county.
1. When and why created.
2. Boundaries:
(a) Territory from which the county was formed.
(b) Original boundaries.
(c) Counties wholly or partially cut off from it.
(d) Present boundaries.
3. Origin of its name.
4. Selection of the county seat
(a) Why selected.
(b) Origin of its name.
(c) Erection of public buildings.
IV. Important Historic Events.
1. During the Colonial Period
(a) Early relations with the Indians.
(b) Military events.
(c) Chief political occurrences.
11
(d) Industrial conditions
1. Labor; introduction of slavery.
2. Agriculture.
3. Commerce.
4. Home manufactures.
(e) Early schools.
(f) Early churches.
(g) Early newspapers and libraries,
(h) Colonial towns.
2. During the Revolution
(a) Whigs and Tories.
(b) Political events.
(c) Military events:
1. Soldiers furnished the British Army.
2. Soldiers furnished the American Army.
3. Battles.
(d) Monuments, markers, or other memorials.
3. During the period of National Development, 1783-1860
(a) Increase of wealth and population.
(b) Founding and growth of towns.
(c) Schools—private and public; noted teachers.
(d) Newspapers.
(e) Religious conditions—churches, noted preach-ers,
famous religious meetings, etc.
(f) Internal Improvements:
1. Deepening of rivers.
2. Digging of canals.
3. Road building.
4. Railroads.
(g) Industrial conditions
1. Agriculture.
2. Commerce.
3. Manufactures,
(h) Military events:
1. War of 1812.
2. War with Mexico.
(i) Political events.
V. Secession and the Civil War, 1861-1865.
1. Sentiment of the people on secession.
2. Secession campaign of 1861.
3. Soldiers furnished to the Confederacy.
4. Battles.
5. Monuments.
VI. Reconstruction, 1865-1876.
1. Carpet baggers
(a) Where they came from.
(b) Character.
(c) What they did.
(d) Results of their control.
12
2. Ku Klux Klan
(a) Number of dens in the county and locations.
(b) Leaders and membership of each.
(c) What the Ku Klux Klan did.
(d) Results of their activities.
3. The Negroes and Reconstruction
(a) Relation between the whites and negroes be-fore
the Civil War.
(b) Influence of the carpet baggers on the negroes.
(c) Disturbances between the whites and negroes.
(d) Results.
VII. Since Reconstruction, 1876-1911.
1. Important political events.
2. Erection of public buildings.
3. Development of the public school system.
4. Road building.
5. Railroads.
6. Commerce.
7. Manufactures.
8. Agriculture.
9. Increase in population and wealth
(a) Population in 1880:
1. Urban.
2. Rural.
(b) Population in 1910:
1. Urban.
2. Rural.
(a) Wealth in 1880:
1. Urban.
2. Rural.
(b) Wealth in 1910:
1. Urban.
2. Rural.
(c) Causes of increase.
GENERAL REFERENCE BOOKS.
(Note.—Under many of the counties will be found a list of special references. The following ab-breviations
are used: NCBook. for 'North Carolina Booklet"; NCProg. for " North Carolina Day
Program. ")
1. North Carolina Day Program. In the issues of previous years
will be found considerable local history material relating to
the counties in the various sections of the State, as follows:
1901 : The Koanoke Island Settlements.
1902: The Albemarle Section.
1903 : The Lower Cape Fear Section.
1904: The Pamlico and Neuse Sections.
1905 : The Scotch-Highlander Settlements, or Upper
Cape Fear Section.
1907: The Scotch-Irish Settlements.
1908: The German Settlements.
1909: Western North Carolina.
2. Wheeler: History of North Carolina. (In this work will
be found brief histories of each county in existence as late
as 1851.)
3. Wheeler: Eeminiscences of North Carolina. (This work con-tains
brief county histories as late as 1884.)
4. Creecy: Grandfather's Tales of North Carolina.
5. Foote: Historical Sketches of North Carolina.
6. Hunter : Sketches of Western North Carolina.
7. Board of Agriculture : North Carolina and Its Resources. Pub-lished
in 1896 by the State Board of Agriculture. Contains
description of each county.
8. Battle: History in the Names of the Counties of North Caro-lina.
NCBook, Vol. VI, No. 1.
9. Laws of North Carolina. (Bound volumes of the laws can be
found in the courthouse.)
10. Files of the county newspapers.
11. Personal recollections of people familiar with the history of the
county.
INDIAN NAMES.
ADAPTED BY MRS. C. P. SPENCER FROM K. P. BATTLE.
(This poem is suitable for use in any county touched by the Swan-nanoa,
the Nantahala, the Yadkin, the Roanoke, or Catawba River.
It will make an interesting exercise to have pupils make a list of all
places, rivers, mountains, etc., in their counties bearing Indian names,
and if possible ascertain their meaning.)
Ye say they all have passed away,
The race of Indian braves;
That their light canoes have vanished
From off our crested waves;
That 'mid the forests where they roamed
There rings no hunter's shout;
Yet their names are on our waters:
Ye can not wash them out.
Their memory liveth on our hills,
Their baptism on our shore;
Our everlasting rivers speak
Their dialect of yore.
'Tis heard where Swannanoa pours
Its crystal tide along;
It sounds on Nantahala's shores,
And Yadkin swells the song;
Where'er the lordly Roanoke sweeps
The Indian name remains;
And swift Catawba proudly keeps
The echo of its strains.
HISTORY IN NAMES OF COUNTIES OF NORTH CAROLINA.
(Note.—First is given the name of the county, then the date of its formation, then the county or
counties from which it was formed, then the origin of its name.)
Alamance.—1§19. Orange. The name is derived from Alamance
Creek, on the banks of which was fought, May 16, 1771, the Bat-tle
of Alamance, between the Regulators and the Colonial militia
under Governor Tryon. It is the name of an Indian tribe that
formerly dwelt in that section. The early history of Alamance is
connected with Orange County.
County seat. Graham. William A. Graham. (See Graham
County.)
ALAMANCE.
BY SEYMOUR D. WHITING.
No stately column* marks the hallowed place
Where silent sleeps, unurn'd, their sacred dust
—
The first free martyrs of a glorious race,
Their fame a people's wealth, a Nation's trust.
Above their rest the golden harvest waves,
The glorious stars stand sentinel on high;
While in sad requiem near their turfless graves,
The winding river murmurs mourning by.
No stern ambition nerved them to the deed,
In Freedom's cause they nobly dared to die;
The first to conquer, or the first to bleed,
God, and their country's right, their battle-cry.
But holier watchers here their vigils keep,
Than storied urn or monumental stone;
For Law and Justice guard their dreamless sleep,
And plenty smiles above their bloody home.
Immortal youth shall crown their deathless fame,
And, as their country's glories still advance,
Shall brighter blaze o'er all the earth thy name,
Thou first-fought field of Freedom—Alamance.
References
:
Stockard: History of Alamance County.
McCorkle: Was Alamance the first battle of the Revolution?
N. C. Book III. 7.
The Origin of Alamance County. N. C. Prog. 1908.
Alexandek.—1847. Iredell, Caldwell, and Wilkes. William J. Alex-ander,
of Mecklenburg County. Born in Salisbury, March, 1767
graduated from the University of North Carolina, 1816 ; admitted
to the bar, 1818; member of the General Assembly, 1826, 1827,
1828, 1829, 1830. Speaker of the House of Commons, 1828.
Elected solicitor, 1830.
County seat. Taylorsville. John Louis Taylor, first Chief Jus-tice
of the Supreme Court of North Carolina, 1818-1829.
^ince this poem was written a monument has been erected on the battlefield of Alamance.
16
Alleghany.—1859. Ashe. Alleghany is an Indian name. The mean-ing
is unknown.
Reference:
The Origin of Alleghany County. N. C. Prog. 1909.
Anson.—1749. Bladen. George, Lord Anson, a celebrated English
admiral who circumnavigated the globe. He lived for awhile
on the Pedee in South Carolina. In 1761 he was given the honor
of bringing to her marriage with King George III., Charlotte,
Princess of Mecklenburg, for whom Mecklenburg County was
named. In 1749 he was at the height of his fame and popularity.
County seat. Wadesboro. Colonel Thomas Wade, Revolution-ary
soldier. Delegate for Anson County in Provincial Congress,
August, 1775, and November, 1776. Colonel of Minute Men of
Salisbury District, 1775.
Ashe.—1799. Prom "that portion of Wilkes lying west of the extreme
height of the Appalachian Mountains." Named in honor of Sam-uel
Ashe, of New Hanover County. Born in 1725. Educated at
Harvard College, Mass. Studied law and settled at Wilmington.
A member of the Committee of Safety at Wilmington. President
of Council of Safety, 1776. Member Provincial Congress, August,
1775, April, 1776, November, 1776. Helped to frame the Consti-tution
of North Carolina, 1776. Judge of the Superior Court,
1777 to 1795. Governor, 1795-1797. The city of Asheville also
bears his name. Died in 1813.
County seat. Jefferson. Thomas Jefferson, author of the
Declaration of Independence and President of the United States.
Reference:
The Origin of Ashe County. N. C. Prog. 1909.
Avery.—1911. Mitchell, Watauga, and Caldwell. Colonel Waightstill
Avery "of Revolutionary fame." Born in Connecticut, May 10,
1741. Came to Charlotte, N. C, 1769. Member of Provincial
Congress, August, 1775, and November, 1776. Member General
Assembly for Mecklenburg County, 1777. Attorney-General of
North Carolina, 1777-1779. Moved to Burke County, 1781. Rep-resented
Burke in Assembly, 1782 to 1785, 1793, and in State
Senate, 1796. Died, 1821. The history of Avery County prior to
1911 is connected with the counties from which it was formed.
From the leading actors in the matter, pupils can get the history
of the movement to create the county, and long fight for it before
the Legislature.
County seat. Newland. William C. Newland, of Caldwell
County, Lieutenant-Governor of North Carolina, 1909-1912.
Beaufort.—1705. Bath. Bath County was formed in 1696 out of
territory bordering on Pamlico Sound and extending southward
to the Cape Fear River. It was at first divided into "precincts"
which in 1738 became "counties." Beaufort County was named
for Henry, Duke of Beaufort, one of the lords proprietors of Caro-lina.
He purchased the share of the Duke of Albemarle.
County seat. Washington. George Washington.
17
References
:
Peele: Bath and Pamlico. N. C. Prog. 1904.
Rodman: Washington and its Early Inhabitants. N. C. Prog. 1904.
Bertie.—1722. Bath. James and Henry Bertie, lords proprietors,
who in 1728 owned the share of Lord Clarendon.
Bladen.—1734. Bath. Martin Bladen, an English politician, who
was one of the members of the Board of Trade which had charge
of colonial affairs.
References
Ellet: The Midnight Ride of Mary Slocum. N. C. Prog. 1903.
The Lower Cape Fear Section. N. C. Prog. 1903.
McKoy: Incidents of the early and permanent settlement of the
Cape Fear. N. C. Book. Vol. VII, No. 3.
Brunswick.—1764. New Hanover and Bladen. House of Brunswick
of which the four Georges Kings of England were members.
References :
Bellamy: General Robert Howe. N. C. Book. Vol. VII, No. 3.
The Lower Cape Fear Section. N. C. Prog. 1903.
McKoy: Incidents of the early and permanent settlement of the
Cape Fear. N. C. Book. Vol. VII, No. 3.
Buncombe.—1791. Burke and Rutherford. At first it embraced all
the territory west of the Blue Ridge, and was so large that it was
nicknamed the "State of Buncombe." Named for Colonel Edward
Buncombe, a soldier of the Revolution. Born in the West Indies,
1742. Educated in England. Came to Tyrrell County, K C,
1768. Built "Buncombe Hall," a residence noted for its hospital-ity.
Over the door he wrote
"To Buncombe Hall
Welcome all."
During the Revolution he took the side of the Americans. Ap-pointed
Colonel of the Eifth North Carolina Regiment of Conti-nentals,
1776; ordered to Charleston, S. C, to defend that city
against the British. Joined Washington's Army in the north,
1777; was at the battles of Brandywine, Sept. 11, 1777, German-town,
Oct. 4, 1777. At Germantown was badly wounded. Died
in May, 1778.
County seat. Asheville. Governor Samuel Ashe. (See Ashe
County.)
RACING WATER.*
BY MARY BAYARD CLARKE.
Racing Water, who can paint thee,
With thy scenery wild and grand?
It would take a magic pencil
Guided by a master hand.
Here are towering, rugged mountains,
Granite rocks all scarred and gray,
Nature's altars whence her incense
Floats in wreaths of mist away.
*The name of the French Broad river in the Cherokee language was "Tah-kee-os-tee," signify-ing
"racing water."
18
At thy feet the murmuring waters
Now are singing songs of praise,
Or in sonorous notes triumphant
A majestic pean raise.
Down the canyon's rocky gorges
Now they wildly, madly sweep,
As, with laughing shout exultant,
O'er the rocks they joyous leap.
Then in calm and limpid beauty
Still and deep they silent flow,
With the verdant banks o'erhanging
Pictured in the depths below.
Pulsing from the heart of Nature,
Here thy "Hot Spring's" genial gush,
There, like stream from Alpine glacier,
Down the mountains coldly rush.
Tah-kee-os-tee—Racing Water
—
Was thy sonorous Indian name,
But as "French Broad" thou art written
On the white man's roll of fame.
Perish that—but live the other!
For on every dancing wave
Evermore is shown the beauty
Of the name the red man gave.
References:
Vance: David L. Swain. N. C. Prog. 1909.
Connor: Zebulon Baird Vance. N. C. Prog. 1909.
The Origin of Buncombe County. N. C. Prog. 1909.
Burke.—1777. Rowan. Thomas Burke, Revolutionary statesman.
Born at Galway, Ireland, about 1747 ; received a liberal education
studied medicine and in 1764, went to Accomac County, Ya., and
commenced practice ; studied law, and moved to Norfolk, where he
practiced; moved to Hillsboro, N". 0., in 1774; delegate to Provin-cial
Congress, April, 1775, August, 1775, April, 1776, November,
1776. Delegate to the Continental Congress, December, 1776, to
July, 1781. Governor of North Carolina, from June, 1781, to
April, 1782 ; was kidnapped by the Tories September 13, 1781, and
carried to Charleston, S. C. ; escaped and resumed his duties as
Governor; defeated for reelection in April, 1782. Died at Hills-boro,
N. C, December 2, 1783.
County seat. Morganton. Gen. Daniel Morgan, Revolutionary
soldier; victor at the Battle of Cowpens, January 17, 1781.
Reference:
The Origin of Burke County. N. C. Prog. 1908.
Cabarrus.—1792. Mecklenburg. Stephen Cabarrus, of Chowan
County. Born 1754 in France; came to America early in life and
settled at Edenton. Elected to the Legislature seventeen times,
1783-1787, 1788-1793, 1795, 1799-1805. Speaker of the House of
Commons eight times, 1789-1792, 1800-1805. Member of State
Constitutional Convention, 1788 ; member Board of Trustees of
19
University of North Carolina, 1789-1792 ; one of the commission-ers
to locate the State Capital, 1792. Died August 4, 1808.
County seat. Concord. Tradition declares that two factions in
the county were disputing over the location of the county seat, hut
finally settled the trouble by selecting the present site, calling it
"Concord," (peace).
References:
The Origin of Cabarrus County. N. C. Prog. 1908.
Caldwell.—1841. Burke and Wilkes. Dr. Joseph Caldwell, the first
president of the University of North Carolina. Born in New
Jersey, 1773 ; graduated from Princeton University, 1791 ; ap-pointed
teacher in Princeton University, 1795; Professor of
Mathematics, University of North Carolina, 1796; elected Presi-dent
of the University, 1806. In 1811 he made a successful tour
of the State to collect funds for the University. In 1824 he was
sent to Europe to purchase books for the University Library and
other equipment. In 1827 delivered an address before the Legis-lature
on railroads, then a new subject. He advocated a railroad
through the center of the State from Morehead City to the Ten-nessee
line; was a strong advocate of public schools and internal
improvements. Remained at the University until his death, Jan-uary
27, 1835.
County seat. Lenoir. Gen. William Lenoir. (See Lenoir
County.)
Camden.—1777. Pasquotank. Charles Pratt, Earl of Camden, a Brit-ish
statesman, one of the strongest friends of the Americans in
the British Parliament. He took their side in the dispute over
"taxation without representation."
Carteret.—1722. Bath. Sir John Carteret, afterwards Earl Gran-ville,
one of the lords proprietors. When the other lords proprie-tors
sold their shares to the king in 1728, Carteret refused to sell,
and an immense tract of land in North Carolina was laid off as
his share in 1744. It was called the Granville District and was
the cause of a great deal of trouble. He lost it when the Revolu-tion
freed North Carolina from British rule.
County seat. Beaufort. Henry, Duke of Beaufort. (See Beau-fort
County.)
Caswell.—1777. Orange. Richard Caswell, Revolutionary soldier
and statesman. Born in Maryland, August 3, 1729 ; received a lib-eral
education; in 1746 moved to North Carolina; member of
General Assembly, 1754-1775 ; speaker, 1770-1771 ; commanded the
right wing of the Colonial Militia under Gov. Tryon at Battle of
Alamance, May 16, 1771 ; served in the Revolutionary Army
commanded the American forces at Battle of Moore's Creek
Bridge, February 27, 1776. Delegate from North Carolina to the
Continental Congress, 1774-1776 ; delegate to the State Constitu-tional
Convention, November, 1776, and its president; Governor
of North Carolina, 1777-1780; commanded the North Carolina
20
troops at the Battle of Camden, 1780; speaker of the Senate of
North Carolina, 1782-1784; Governor of North Carolina, 1785-
1787; elected a delegate from North Carolina to the convention
which framed the Federal Constitution, 1787, but declined ; State
Senator, 1789. Died November 20, 1789.
County seat. Yanceyville. Bartlett Yancey. (See Yancey
County.)
Catawba.—1842. Lincoln. Named after a tribe of Indians which
dwelt in that section of the State.
Reference:
The Origin of Catawba County. N. C. Prog. 1908.
Chatham.—1770. Orange.^ Named in honor of the great Englishman
who won for England all of French America and was the most
eloquent defender of the American cause in the British Parliament
during the Revolution—William Pitt, Earl of Chatham.
County seat. Pittsboro. William Pitt.
Cherokee.—1839. Macon. An Indian tribe which still dwells in that
section of the State. It is the most western county in the State.
When we say "From Currituck to Cherokee" we mean the whole
of North Carolina. Another expression meaning the same thing
is "From Murphy to Manteo." (Murphy, the county seat of
Cherokee, is in the extreme west; Manteo, the county seat of Dare.
is in the extreme east.)
County seat. Murphy. Archibald D. Murphey. Born in Cas-well
County, 1777; educated at the University of North Carolina;
studied law, and settled at Hillsboro. State Senator from Orange
County, 1812-1818. Judge of the Superior Court, 1818-1820. His
greatest service was in interest of public education. He suggested
a plan for public schools that has earned for him the title of
"Father of the Public Schools." Died in 1832.
References
:
The Origin of Cherokee County. N. C. Prog. 1909.
Connor: Cherokee Indians in the Revolution. N. C. Prog. 1909.
Stringfield: The North Carolina Cherokee Indians. N. C. Book.
Vol. Ill, No. 2. Also Vol. IV, No. 8.
Chowan.—1672. Albemarle. Albemarle County was the first county
in North Carolina. It was divided into "precincts," which in
1738 became "counties," and "Albemarle County" disappeared
from the map. For a long time the governors of North Carolina
were called "Governors of Albemarle." Chowan County was
named for a tribe of Indians who dwelt in the northeastern part
of the State when the English first came to North Carolina.
County seat. Edenton. Charles Eden, Governor of North Caro-lina,
1714-1722.
References:
Sikes: Joseph Hewes. N. C. Book. Vol. IV, No. 5.
Connor: Joseph Hewes and the Declaration of Independence. N. C.
Book. Vol. X, No. 3.
Stone: Edenton. N. C. Prog. 1902.
21
Dillard: 'St. Paul's Church, Edenton, and its Associations. N. C.
Book. Vol. V, No. 1.
Dillard: The Historic Edenton Tea-Party. N. C. Book. Vol. I, No. 4.
Drane: The Expedition Against the Row Galley, "General Arnold,"
a side-light on Colonial Edenton. N. C. Book. Vol. VII, No. 4.
Davis: James Iredell. N. C. Prog. 1902.
Nash: The Borough Towns of North Carolina (Edenton). N. C.
Book. Vol. VI, No. 2.
Clay.—1861. Cherokee. Henry Clay, an American statesman. Born
in Virginia, April 12, 1777. Studied law and moved to Lexington,
Ky. Member of Legislature of Kentucky, 1803, 1808-1809. Uni-ted
States Senator, 1806-1807 and 1810-1811. Representative in
Congress, and Speaker, 1811-1814. Resigned, 1814. Again Repre-sentative
in Congress, and Speaker, 1815-1820. Resigned, 1820.
Again representative in Congress, 1821-1825, and Speaker, 1821-
1823. Secretary of State, in Cabinet of President John Quincy
Adams, 1825-1829. Again United States Senator, 1831-1842, and
1849-1852. He was twice defeated for the Presidency, each time
by a North Carolinian, in 1832 by Andrew Jackson, and in 1844
by James K. Polk. He was one of the most eloquent of American
orators. He died in Washington in 1852 while a member of the
United States Senate.
Reference
:
The Origin of Clay County. N. C. Prog. 1909.
Cleveland.—1841. Rutherford and Lincoln. Colonel Benjamin
Cleveland. Born in Virginia, May 26, 1738. Came to North
Carolina about 1769, in what is now Wilkes County. Famous as
leader on the frontier and as Indian fighter. Appointed Ensign
in North Carolina Continental Line, 1775; Lieutenant, 1776. Re-signed
and was appointed Colonel of Militia of Wilkes County,
1778. Representative in House of Commons, 1778 ; State Senator,
1779. Constantly engaged in warfare against Indians and Tories.
In 1780 led his regiment against the British and Tories under
Ferguson, bore an important part in Battle of King's Mountain,
October 7, 1780. After the Revolution moved to South Carolina,
where he died, October, 1806.
County seat. Shelby. Isaac Shelby, one of the "Heroes of
King's Mountain"; Governor of Kentucky.
BATTLE OP KING'S MOUNTAIN.
'Twas on a pleasant mountain the Tory heathens lay,
With a doughty Major at their head, one Ferguson, they say;
Cornwallis had detach'd him a thieving for to go,
And catch the Carolina men, or lay the rebels low.
The scamp had rang'd the country in search of royal aid,
And with his owls perch'd on high, he taught them all his trade.
But, ah! that fatal morning, when Shelby brave drew near,
'Tis certainly a warning that Government should hear,
And Campbell brave, and Cleveland, and Colonel John Sevier,
Each with a band of gallant men to Ferguson appear.
Just as the sun was setting behind the western hills,
Just then our trusty rifles sent a dose of leaden pills;
4
22
Up, up the steep together brave Williams led his troop,
And join'd by Winston, bold and true, disturbed the Tory coop.
The royal slaves,—the royal owls, flew high on every hand,
But soon they settled—gave a howl, and quarter'd to Cleveland;
I would not tell the number of Tories slain that day,
But surely it is certain that none did run away.
For all that were living were happy to give up,
So let us make thanksgiving, and pass the bright tin cup;
To all our brave regiment, let's toast 'em for their health,
And may our glorious country have joy, and peace and wealth.
References
:
Allen: Battle of King's Mountain. N. C. Prog. 1907.
Connor: King's Mountain Boys. N. C. Prog. 1909.
Connor: Benjamin Cleveland. N. C. Prog. 1909.
Columbus.—1808. Bladen and Brunswick. Christopher Columbus,
discoverer of the New World.
County seat. Whiteville. James B. White, first representative
from Columbus County in the State Senate, 1809 and 1810.
Craven.—1712. Bath. William, Lord Craven, one of the lords pro-prietors
of Carolina.
Cunty seat. New Bern. Bern, capital of Switzerland, whence
came the early settlers of Craven County.
References:
Allen: The German Palatines in North Carolina. N. C. Book. Vol.
IV, No. 12.
Ashe: The Tuscarora War, 1711-15. N. C. Prog. 1904.
Kennedy: Colonial New Bern. N. C. Book. Vol. I, No. 2.
Coon: Early New Bern. N. C. Prog. 1904.
Clark: The Indian Massacre and the Tuscarora War of 1711-13.
N. C. Book, Vol. II, No. 3.
Coon: The Huguenot Settlements and de Graffenried's Colony. N. C.
Prog. 1904.
Nash: The Borough Towns of North Carolina (New Bern). N. C
Book. Vol. VI, No. 2.
Pittman: The Revolutionary Congresses of North Carolina. N. C
Book. Vol. II, No. 6.
Cumberland.—1754. Bladen. William Augustus, Duke of Cumber-land,
second son of King George II. Cumberland was the com
mander of the English army at the battle of Culloden in which the
Scotch Highlanders were so badly defeated. Many of them came
to America, and their principal settlement was at Cross Creek in
Cumberland County.
County seat. Fayetteville. Marquis de La Fayette, the famous
young Frenchman, the friend of Washington, who helped the
Americans win their independence of England.
References:
Connor: La Fayette's Visit to Fayetteville. N. C. Prog. 1905.
McRae: The Fayetteville Independent Light Infantry. N. C. Book
Vol. VII, No. 4.
Connor: Flora MacDonald. N. C. Prog. 1905.
Connor: James C. Dobbin. N. C. Prog. 1905.
Nash: The Borough Towns of North Carolina (Fayetteville)
N. C. Book. Vol. VI, No. 2.
23
The Upper Cape Fear Section. N. C. Prog. 1905.
Connor: The Convention of 1789 and its Centennial Celebration.
N. C. Prog. 1905.
Connor (H. G.) : The Convention of 1788-1789, and the Federal Con-stitution.
Hillsboro and Fayetteville. N. C. Book, Vol. IV, No. 4.
Currituck.—1672. Albemarle. An Indian tribe.
Dare.—1870. Currituck, Tyrrell, and Hyde. Virginia Dare, the first
English child born in America.
County seat. Manteo. The Indian warrior, friend of the whites,
who is supposed to have led the "Lost Colony" to Croatan, his
home.
THE LOST COLONY.
BY MRS. MARGARET J. PRESTON.
The breath of spring was on the sea:
Anon the Governor stepped
His good ship's deck right merrily;
His promise had been kept.
"See, see! the coastline comes in view!"
He heard the mariners shout
—
"We'll drop our anchors in the sound
Before a star is out!" ,
"Now, God be praised," he inly breathed,
"Who saves from all that harms:
Tomorrow morn my pretty ones
Will rest within my arms!"
At dawn of day they moored their ships,
And dared the breakers' roar.
What meant it? Not a man was there
To welcome them ashore!
They sprang to find the cabins rude;
The quick green sedge had thrown
Its knotted web o'er every door
And climbed each chimney-stone.
The spring was choked with winter's leaves,
And feebly gurgled on;
And from the pathway strewn with wrack
All trace of feet was gone.
Their fingers thrid the matted grass,
If there perchance a mound
Unseen might heave the broken turf;
But not a grave was found.
They beat the tangled cypress swamp,
If haply in despair
They might have strayed into its glade,
But found no vestige there.
"The pine! the pine!" the governor groaned;
And there each staring man
Read, in a maze, one single word
Deep carven—CRO-A-TAN!
24
But cut above, no cross, no sign,
No symbol of distress;
Naught else beside that mystic line,
Within the wilderness!
And where and what was "Cro-a-tan"?
But not an answer came,
And none of all who read it there
Had ever heard the name!
"Oh, daughter! daughter! with the thought
My harrowed brain is wild!—
Up with the anchors! I must find
The mother and the child!"
In vain, in vain, their heart-sick search;
No tidings reached them more,
No record save that silent word
Upon that silent shore.
The mystery rests a mystery still,
Unsolved of mortal man;
Sphinx-like, untold, the ages hold
The tale of Cro-a-tan.
Reference:
Winston: The First Settlement on Roanoke Island. N. C. Prog.
1902.
ON HATTERAS BAR.
BY HENRY JEROME STOCKARD.
The night was wild, the breakers churned;
In heaven's vast shone not a star;
Alone the light, mist-haloed, burned
On Hatteras Bar.
Prom out the scabbard of the dark
There flashed a sudden blazing brand,
Which, grasped by some puissant hand,
Was thrust against a shrinking bark
With so dire, deadly, damning might
'Twas broke to fragments dazzling white.
Then denser sunk the lurid air,
And cries blent with the surges' jar,
And, stabbed, the ship clung reeling there
On Hatteras Bar.
The ocean massed its ancient strength,
And hoarser raved the savage gale;
To shreds was rent each helpless sail;
The vessel trembled through its length;
It lurched, and ghost-like, through the gloom
Shivered, vanished to its doom.
The souls that in the sad winds moan,
Where lay at morn that shattered spar!—
That sob where plangent seas intone
On Hatteras Bar.
25
Davidson.—1822. Rowan. William Lee Davidson, a General in the
American Army. Born in Pennsylvania, 1746. Father brought
him to Rowan County, Worth Carolina, 1750. Appointed Major
Fourth W. C. Regiment, Continental Line, 1776. Joined Washing-ton's
Army in Wew Jersey, 1777. Took part in battles of Prince-ton,
Brandywine, Germantown, Monmouth. Promoted for gallan-try
to Lieutenant-Colonel. Returned to Worth Carolina, 1779
active in subduing Tories. Appointed Brigadier-General of Mili-tia
; 1780; resisted invasion of Worth Carolina by British, 1781;
killed at Battle of Cowan's Ford, February 1, 1781. The United
States has erected a monument to him at Guilford Battleground.
County seat. Lexington. From Lexington, Mass., where the
first battle of the American Revolution was fought.
Reference:
The Origin of Davidson County. N. C. Prog. 1908.
Davie.—1836. - Rowan. William Richardson Davie, Governor of
Worth Carolina. Born in England, January 20, 1756. Came to
Waxhaw, S. C, 1763. Graduated from Princeton University,
1776. Took part of Americans in disputes with Great Britain.
Served against British in Wew Jersey, while a student at Prince-ton,
1776. Studied law at Salisbury, W. C, and admitted to the
bar, 1779. Elected Major of Worth Carolina Cavalry, 1779. Ac-tive
in campaign against the British in Worth and South Carolina,
1779-1781. Wounded at Battle of Stono Ferry, S. C, June 20,
1779. Saved American Army from destruction after battle of
Camden, August, 1780. Appointed Colonel of Cavalry, Septem-ber,
1780. Defended Charlotte against Cornwallis, 1780. Ap-pointed
Quartermaster-General of American forces by Gen. Greene,
December, 1780. Equipped Greene's Army. After Revolution
made his home at Halifax, W. C. Member General Assembly,
1786, 1787, 1789, 1791, 1793, 1794, 1796, 1798. Delegate to the
Convention which framed Constitution of United States, 1787.
Delegate to State Conventions of 1788 and 1789. Advocated ratifi-cation
of Federal Constitution by Worth Carolina. Author of act
to found the University of Worth Carolina, 1789 ; laid cornerstone
of University, October 12, 1792. For many years Trustee of Uni-versity.
Governor of Worth Carolina, 1799. Appointed by Wash-ington
Brigadier-General in United States Army, 1796. Appointed
by President John Adams special ambassador to negotiate treaty
between United States and France, 1799-1800. Died in South
Carolina, Wovember 18, 1820. Judge William Gaston said of
him :
aHe was a great man in an age of great men, admired and
loved by the virtuous and the wise."
Reference:
The Origin of Davie County. N. C. Prog. 1908.
Duplin.—1749. Wew Hanover. George Henry, Lord Duplin, an Eng-lish
nobleman.
County seat. Kenansville. James Kenan, Revolutionary leader
delegate to Provincial Congress, August, 1774, August, 1775, Wo-vember,
1776, State Senator, 1777-1783, 1787-1791, 1793.
26
Reference:
Carr: Battle of Rockfish Creek. N. C. Book. Vol. VI, No. 3.
Durham.—1881. Orange and Wake. Named after the town of Dur-ham,
a thriving manufacturing city.
Edgecombe.—1732. Bath. Sir Richard, Baron Edgecombe, an Eng-lish
nobleman, and a lord of the treasury.
Forsyth.—1849. Stokes. Forsyth County was settled by Moravians
from Pennsylvania in 1753. They were Germans who had come
to Pennsylvania in 1738, to preach the gospel to the settlers and
to convert the Indians to Christianity. In 1751 they bought 100,-
000 acres in North Carolina, and called it "Wachovia," from two
German words, "wach,"~ a stream, and "aue," a meadow. In 1753
the first settlers came—twelve unmarried men—and laid off their
first town, Bethebara. Others followed, and in 1759 Bethania was
begun and in 1766, Salem. Forsyth County was named for Benja-min
Forsyth, a soldier of the War of 1812. Born in Stokes County, K C. Entered United States Army, April, 1800. Honorably
discharged, June, 1800. Represented Stokes County in General
Assembly, 1807, 1808. Reentered United States Army, 1809, as
Captain. Took active part in War of 1812, along Canadian fron-tier.
Promoted for gallantry to rank of Major. Stationed as
commander of the post of Ogdensburg, N. Y., 1813. Surprised a
party of British at Morristown, February 6, 1813, captured a large
number of prisoners and arms, without losing a man. British
force of 1,200 men attacked Ogdensburg, February 21, 1813, and
captured it. May 27, 1813, Major Forsyth took part in capture
of Fort George, Canada. Was killed at Battle of Odelltown, ou
the Canadian frontier, June 28, 1814.
County seat. Winston. Col. Joseph Winston, one of the "He-roes
of King's Mountain"; State Senator from Stokes County,
1790, 1791; member of Congress 1793-1795, 1803-1807.
Reference:
Clewell: History of Wachovia in North Carolina.
Fries: History of Forsyth County.
Clewell: Moravian Settlements in North Carolina. N. C. Book.
Vol. II, No. 4.
Connor: The Beginning of Wachovia. N. C. Prog. 1908.
The Origin of Forsyth County. N. C. Prog. 1908.
Franklin.—1779. Bute (now Warren and Franklin). Benjamin
Franklin. Born at Boston, Mass., January 17, 1706 ; received a
public school education; learned the art of printing, and after
working at his trade in Philadelphia and London, established him-self
at Philadelphia; Pennsylvania State printer; postmaster at
Philadelphia; a member of the Provinicial Assembly, 1744-1754;
appointed postmaster-general of the British North American col-onies;
agent of Pennsylvania at London; a Delegate to the Con-tinental
Congress, 1775-76; signed the Declaration of Independ-ence;
sent as diplomatic commissioner to France by the Conti-nental
Congress, 1778-1785; Governor of Pennsylvania, 1785-1788;
a delegate to the convention which framed the Federal Constitu-
27
tion, 1787 ; published "Poor Kichard's Alamanac," several works
on electricity, and numerous political pamphlets; died at Philadel-phia,
April 17, 1790.
Gaston.—1846. Lincoln. William Gaston, an American statesman
and jurist. Born at New Bern, N. C, September 19, 1778 ; attended
Georgetown (D. C.) College; graduated from Princeton College
in 1796; studied law; admitted to the bar in 1798, attaining prom-inence
in the legal profession in the State; State Senator in 1800,
1812, 1818, 1819; member of the House of Commons of North
Carolina, 1808, 1809, 1824, 1827, 1828, 1831, serving in 1808 as
Speaker; a Presidential elector in 1809; a Representative in Con-gress
from 1813 to 1817; Judge of the Supreme Court of North
Carolina, 1834-1844; member of the Constitutional Convention of
1835; declined the nomination to the United States Senate in
1840; died at Raleigh, N. C, January 23, 1844.
Reference:
The Origin of Gaston County. N. C. Prog. 1908.
Gates.—1779. Hertford. General Horatio Gates, who commanded
the American Army at the Battle of Saratoga. At this battle an
entire British Army was captured, but General Gates contributed
nothing to that success. It is regarded as one of the most import-ant
battles in the history of the world. For a time Gates was very
popular, many people thought him a great soldier, and some wished
to remove Washington and put Gates in command of the American
Army. In 1780 he was put in command of the American Army
in the South, and proved to be a foolish, incompetent officer. He
was badly defeated by Lord Cornwallis at Camden, S. C, August
16, 1780. He then retired to his home in Virginia and was heard
of no more.
Graham.—1872. Cherokee. William Alexander Graham, an Ameri-can
statesman. Born in Lincoln County, N. C, Sept. 5, 1804;
received a classical education ; graduated from the University of
North Carolina in 1824; admitted to the bar and began practicing
at Hillsboro; member of the House of Commons of North Caro-lina
1833 to 1840; State Senator, 1854, 1862; United States Sena-tor,
from December 10, 1840, to March 3, 1843 ; Governor of North
Carolina, 1845-1848 ; Secretary of the Navy, July 20, 1850, to
March 7, 1853 ; Whig candidate for Vice-President in 1852 ; Sena-tor
in the Second Confederate Congress, 1864-1865; delegate to
the Philadelphia Union Convention in 1866 ; died at Saratoga
Springs, N. Y., August 11, 1875.
Reference:
The Origin of Graham County. N. C. Prog. 1909.
Connor: William A. Graham. N. C. Prog. 1907.
Geanville.—1746. Edgecombe. Sir John Carteret, Earl Granville,
who owned the Granville District. He was Prime Minister under
King George II., and a very brilliant man.
Reference:
Pittman: John Penn. N. C. Book. Vol. IV, No. 5.
28
Greene.—1799. Glasgow and Craven. Glasgow County was named
in honor of James Glasgow, the first Secretary of State after 1776.
He had been a prominent patriot during the Revolution, but while
Secretary of State was convicted of fraud in issuing land grants
in Tennessee, and his name was expunged from the map. Greene
County was named in honor of General Nathanael Greene, Wash-ington's
"right-hand man." Next to Washington General Greene is
regarded as the greatest soldier of the Revolution. He fought the
Battle of Guilford Court House and saved North Carolina from
the British.
Guilford.—1770. Rowan and Orange. Francis, Earl of Guilford, an
English nobleman, father of Lord North, the chief adviser of
King George III. during the Revolution. After his father's death
Lord North became the Earl of Guilford. A large number of Ger-mans
from Pennsylvania settled in this county. In their covered
wagons they followed the great road from Pennsylvania through
Maryland and Virginia, and selected fertile lands along the banks
of rivers and creeks in what is now Guilford County. Greensboro,
the county seat, was named in honor of the famous American gen-eral,
Nathanael Greene. General Greene fought the great Battle
of Guilford Court House against Lord Cornwallis, not far from
Greensboro. "Greensborough," wrote a traveler in 1849, is "a
thriving, compact village. * * * It is the capital of Guilford
County. * * * Very few of the villages in the interior of
the State appeared to me more like a Northern town than Greens-borough.
The houses are generally good, and the stores give evi-dence
of active trade."
County seat. Greensboro. Gen. Nathanael Greene, who fought
the Battle of Guilford Court House, in Guilford County. (See
Greene County.)
THE BATTLE OP GUILFORD COURTHOUSE.
FROM "CAROLINA," BY JAMES B. SHEPARD.
Hail, old Guilford, hail!
Thy soil is sacred. Thine the battle ground
Where England's strong and haughty hosts grew pale
In victory's presence. Here the brave were crowned
With fame immortal. Here the loudest gale
Of battle sounded, while the blue profound,
Rent with thy shouts of triumph, cleared away,
And poured upon thee Freedom's perfect day.
Here brave Cornwallis led his glittering bands
In pomp and splendor—here the free winds played
With plume and banner—here the loud commands
Of battle thundered, as in strength arrayed
The veteran legions of the eastern lands
Moved to the music which their valor made
On their own heart-strings. Hark! the strife begins,
And the red squadrons come like rushing winds.
29
But Greene is here, and like a lofty rock,
Which rolls aside the tempest's deafening roar,
His hosts are stationed, and he seems to mock
The advancing squadrons. Now the changeful shore
Of the wide sea of battle lessens, and the shock
Of charging legions dyes the field with gore.
But hark! what sound was that which rose and fell
Amid the battle's deep and deadly swell?
'Twas Gunby's battle signal. Who hath swayed
A brighter manner than the one which throws
From off his brow the smoke his rifle made?
And now the strife is hushed, and dread repose
Broods o'er both armies. Britain stands arrayed
In haughty silence, while her humble foes,
Fixing their hopes on Gunby, bend to hear
His long shrill rifles, musical and clear.
A low, deep murmur breaks the silence now,
A thousand eyes are glancing on the sight
Of each loud rifle, and the lofty brow
Of Gunby kindles with a glorious light,
To see his heroes, summoned from the plow,
Advance so firmly to the bloody fight.
The charge is sounded. His brave troops hath won
What gallant Greene so gloriously begun.
Reference:
The Origin of Guilford County. N. C. Prog. 1908.
Halifax.—1758. Edgecombe. George, Earl of Halifax, president of
the Board of Trade, which had control of the colonies before the
Revolution.
Reference:
Nash: The Borough Towns of North Carolina (Halifax). N. C.
Book. Vol. VI, No. 2.
Pittman: The Revolutionary Congresses of North Carolina. N. C.
Book. Vol. II, No. 6.
Harnett.—1855. Cumberland. Cornelius Harnett. Born April 20,
1723, in Chowan County. Father moved to the Cape Fear in
1726. Harnett became a resident of Wilmington, 1750. Alder-man
of Wilmington for eleven years. Member General Assembly,
1754 to 1775. One of the leaders of resistance to the Stamp Act,
1765-1766. A leader in the Assembly against "taxation without
representation." Member of Committee of Correspondence, 1773.
Chairman of Wilmington Committee of Safety, 1774-1775 ; Chair-man
of New Hanover County Committee of Safety, 1775; Presi-dent
Provincial Council, 1775-1776 ; President of Council of Safety,
1776; member of Provincial Congress, April, 1775, August, 1775,
April, 1776, November, 1776; author of Halifax Resolution of
April 12, 1776, by which "North Carolina was the first colony to
vote explicit sanction to independence." Member of first Council
of State under independent State government, 1777. Delegate to
Continental Congress, 1777-1780. Captured by the British 1781,
and died from cruel treatment, April 28, 1781. A monument has
been erected to him at Wilmington.
County seat. Lillington. Alexander Lillington, a Revolutionary
30
«»
soldier and one of the commanders of the Americans, with Cas-well
(see Caswell County) at the Battle of Moore's Creek Bridge.
Haywood.—1808. Buncombe. John Haywood. Born in Edgecombe
County, February 23, 1755. Treasurer of North Carolina, 1787
to 1827. He was interested in education; a trustee of the Univer-sity
for thirty-five years ; was a member of the committee that
located the University at Chapel Hill. One of the founders of
the Raleigh Academy, for many years a famous school at Raleigh.
The first mayor of Raleigh, though the office was then called "In-tendant
of Police." Died at Raleigh, November 18, 1827.
County seat. Waynesville. Named for Anthony Wayne. (See
Wayne County.)
References :
Allen: History of Haywood County.
The Origin of Haywood County. N. C. Prog. 1909.
Henderson.—1838. Buncombe. Leonard Henderson, Chief Justice of
North Carolina. Born October 6, 1772, in Granville County.
After receiving a good education he studied law. Judge of the
Superior Court for eight years. Resigned and returned to the
practice of law. At Williamsboro, in Granville County, he estab-lished
the first law school in North Carolina. Judge of the Su-preme
Court, part of time as Chief Justice, 1818-1833. Died August
13, 1833.
County seat. Hendersonville, also named for Chief Justice
Henderson.
Under Buncombe County, page 17, is a poem, "Racing Waters," on the
French Broad river, which is also appropriate for Henderson County.
Hertford.—1759. Chowan, Bertie, and Northampton. Francis Sey-mour
Conway, Earl of Hertford, an English nobleman. He was
a brother of General Conway, a distinguished British soldier and
member of Parliament, who favored the repeal of the stamp act.
The word Hertford is said to mean "Red Eord."
Reference
:
Winborne: History of Hertford County.
Hoke.—1911. Cumberland and Robeson. Robert E. Hoke. Major-
General Confederate States Army. Born in Lincolnton, N. C,
May 27, 1837. Studied military affairs at Kentucky Military
Academy. Became a manufacturer of cotton goods, cotton seed
oil, paper, iron, etc. Lieutenant Company K, First Regiment of
North Carolina troops, called '"Bethel Regiment," 1861. Took
part in Battle of Bethel, June, 1861; praised by commanding offi-cer
"for his great zeal, energy and judgment." Elected Major,
September, 1862; Lieutenant-Colonel, 1862; took part in the great
battles around Richmond, under Johnston and Lee, 1862 ; Colonel
of 21st North Carolina Regiment, 1862; Brigadier-General, 1863;
served under General Lee throughout 1863. Captured Plymouth,
N. C. (then held by United States troops), 1864. President Davis
telegraphed him his promotion to Major-General. Rejoined Lee
in Virginia, and served in the great battles against Grant. Joined
31
Johnston's Army in North Carolina, 1865; bore important part
in Battle of Bentonville, March 19, 1865. Since the War, has
been in private life. He now (1911) lives at Bialeigh. The his-tory
of Hoke County until 1911 is to be found in the histories of
Cumberland and Robeson Counties.
Hyde.—1705. Bath. Called Wickham until about 1712. Named
Hyde in honor of Edward Hyde, Earl of Clarendon, one of the
lords proprietors.
Iredell.—1788. Rowan. James Iredell, of Edenton, one of the fore-most
lawyers of the State. Born in England, October 5, 1751.
Came to Edenton, K C, 1768. Admitted to the bar, 1770. Ap-pointed
by Provincial Congress, 1776, to revise the laws of the
State. Elected Judge, 1777; Attorney-General, 1779-1792. Again
appointed to revise the laws, 1787. Member of the State Consti-tutional
Conventions, 1788, 1789. Leader of the advocates of
adopting the new Federal Constitution. His able speeches for the
Constitution attracted the attention of President Washington who
appointed him, 1790, a Judge of the Supreme Court of the United
States. Served until his death, October 20, 1799.
References
:
The Origin of Iredell County. N. C. Prog. 1908.
Davis: James Iredell. N. C. Prog. 1902.
Jackson.—1851. Haywood and Macon. Andrew Jackson, President-of
the United States. Born in the Waxhaw settlement N. C,
March 15, 1767; early education limited; during the Revolution
captured by the British and brutally struck by an officer whose
boots he refused to clean ; left destitute by the death of his mother
studied law at Salisbury, JST. C. ; appointed Solicitor of the West-ern
District of North Carolina, now the State of Tennessee, 1788
delegate to the convention in 1796 to frame a constitution for
Tennessee; a Representative in Congress from Tennessee from
1796 to 1797; United States Senator, 1797-1798; Judge of the
Supreme Court of Tennessee, 1798-1804; served in the Creek War
of 1813; Major-General in the United States Army, 1814; de-feated
the British at New Orleans, Jan. 8, 1815; commanded an
expedition which conquered Florida, 1817; Governor of Florida,
1821; United States Senator, 1823-1825; President of the United
States, 1829-1837. Died June 8, 1845.
County seat. Webster. Daniel Webster, the great orator.
References
The Origin of Jackson County. N. C. Prog. 1909.
Sikes: Andrew Jackson. N. C. Prog. 1907.
Johnston.—1746. Craven. Afterwards parts of Duplin and Orange
were added. Gabriel Johnston, Governor of North Carolina from
1734 to 1752. Born in Scotland; educated University of St. An-drews
; studied medicine ; Professor of Oriental Languages, Uni-versity
St. Andrews; moved to London, as a political writer; ap-pointed
Governor of North Carolina, 1733 ; came to North Caro-lina,
1734. Active in promoting welfare of the colony, induced
32
many Scotch and German settlers to come to North Carolina.
Died in office July 17, 17^2.
Reference:
Connor: The Battle of Bentonville. N. C. Prog. 1905.
Jones.—1779. Craven. Willie (pronounced as if written Wiley) Jones,
a Revolutionary statesman. Born in Halifax County, N". C, in
1731 ; received a liberal education ; member Provincial Congresses
of 1775 and 1776; member of the House of Commons, 1777-1780;
State Senator, 1782, 1788 ; delegate to the Continental Congress,
1780-1781 ; elected to the United States Constitutional Convention
in 1787, but declined; member of the State Constitutional Conven-tion,
1788, 1789 ; leader of opponents of the Federal Constitution.
Died near Raleigh in 1801.
Lee.—1907. Chatham and Moore. General Robert E. Lee.
Lenoir.—1791. Dobbs and Craven. Dobbs County was named in
honor of Arthur Dobbs, one of the Royal Governors of North Caro-lina.
In 1791 the county was divided into Lenoir and Glasgow, and
the name of Dobbs erased from the map. Lenoir was named for
William Lenoir, one of the "heroes of King's Mountain." Born
May 20, 1751, in Virginia. Was brought by his father to Edge-combe
County, N. C, about 1759. Took side of colonists in dis-putes
with England. Moved, 1775, to that part of Surry County
afterwards Wilkes. Accompanied General Rutherford (see Ruther-ford
County) on expedition against Cherokee Indians, 1776. Cap-tain
in Cleveland's Regiment (see Cleveland County) at Battle of
King's Mountain, October 7, 1780. Justice of the Peace for Wilkes
County, 1777-1839. Member of House of Commons, 1781-1783;
State Senator, 1787-1795; Speaker of the Senate, 1790-1794.
Member of State Constitutional Conventions, 1788 and 1789. First
President Board of Trustees of the University. Died May 6, 1839.
County seat. Kinston. Originally Kingston, or "King's town,"
founded while North Carolina was a colony of the King of England.
Lincoln.—1779. Tryon. Gen. Benjamin Lincoln, a distinguished
General of the Revolution, whom Washington appointed to receive
the sword of Lord Cornwallis at the surrender of Yorktown. Ger-man
settlements were made in Lincoln County between the years
1745 and 1750, while it was still a part of Mecklenburg. Mecklen-burg
was cut off from Anson in 1762, and afterwards a part of
Mecklenburg was made into a new county, called Tryon, in honor
of William Tryon, Governor of North Carolina. When the Revo-lution
broke out Governor Tryon was for the King, so in 1779
Tryon County was divided into two counties, called Lincoln and
Rutherford. Lincoln County and the county seat, Lincolnton, were
both named in honor of Benjamin Lincoln, an American General
who fought under Washington. When Lincoln County was formed
Gen. Benjamin Lincoln was the General in command of the Amer-ican
army at Charleston, South Carolina. There were several
thousand North Carolina soldiers in his army. So the new county
was named in honor of their general.
33
References :
Nixon: History of Lincoln County. N. C. Book. Vol. IX, No. 3.
Graham: Battle of Ramsaur's Mill. N. C. Book. Vol. IV, No. 2.
See also N. C. Prog. 1908.
The Origin of Lincoln County. N. C. Prog. 1908.
Macon.—1828. Haywood. Nathaniel Macon, an American statesman.
Born in Warren County, N. C, December 17, 1757 ; pursued classi-cal
studies ; attended Princeton College ; served in the Revolution-ary
war; State Senator, 1780-1782 and 1784-1785; Representative
in Congress, 1791-1815; Speaker of the House of Representatives,
1801-1807; United States Senator, 1815-1828; President pro tem-pore
of the Senate, 1825-1827; President of the State Constitu-tional
Convention, 1835; Presidential elector on the Democratic
ticket in 1836. Died in Warren County, 1ST. C, June 29, 1837.
County seat. Franklin. Benjamin Franklin. (See Franklin
County.)
Reference:
The Origin of Macon County. N. C. Prog. 1909.
McDowell.—1842. Rutherford and Burke. Joseph McDowell, Revo-lutionary
soldier. Born in Winchester, Va., in 1756; moved to
Burke County, N. C. ; active in the Revolutionary War; member
of the House of Commons, 1782-1788 ; opposed the adoption of the
Federal Constitution in the State Convention, 1788 ; Representative
in Congress, 1793-1795 and 1797-1799. Died in Burke County, K C.
County seat. Marion. Francis Marion, General in the Revolu-tion.
Famous partisan leader of South Carolina.
Madison.—1851. Buncombe and Yancey. James Madison, President
of the United States. Born at Port Conway, Va., March 16, 1751
graduated from Princeton College, 1771 ; studied law and admitted
to the bar ; State Representative, 1776, and an executive councilor,
1778; delegate to the Continental Congress, 1780-1783 and 1786-
1788, and to the Federal Constitutional Convention, 1787 ; Repre-sentative
in Congress from Virginia, 1789-1797 ; Secretary of State
of the United States, 1801-1809 ; President, 1809-1817. Died at
Montpelier, Va., June 28, 1836.
Under Buncombe County, page 17, is a poem, "Racing Water"
(the French Broad river), which is also appropriate for use in
Madison County.
Reference:
The Origin of Madison County. N. C. Prog. 1909.
Martin.—1774. Halifax and Tyrrell. Josiah Martin, the last Royal
Governor of North Carolina. It is probable this name would have
been changed, like that of Dobbs and Tryon, but for the popularity
of Alexander Martin, Governor in 1782, and again in 1790. Josiah
Martin was born in England, April 3, 1737, appointed Major in the
English army. Appointed Governor of North Carolina, 1771.
During his administration the Revolutionary movement was organ-ized
in North Carolina. The first Provincial Congress met at New
34
Bern, August 25, 1774. On April 4, 1775, at Governor Martin's
command, the last Assembly in North Carolina under Royal rule
met at New Bern. In June, 1775, he fled from the Palace at New
Bern and took refuge in Fort Johnston, on the Cape Fear. July
19 he was driven from Port Johnston by the Cape Fear patriots
under John Ashe and Cornelius Harnett, and took refuge on a
British man of war. This was the end of the Royal government in
North Carolina. In 1780 he joined Cornwallis in his invasion of
North Carolina. After the Revolution Martin returned to Eng-land,
where he died April 13, 1786.
Mecklenburg.—1762. Anson. Princess Charlotte of Mecklenburg,
Queen of George III., King of England. The county seat, Char-lotte,
one of the prettiest cities in the State, was also named in her
honor. Mecklenburg County was the scene of some of the most
stirring events of the Revolution.
References
:
Alexander: Early Settlers of the Hopewell Section.
Alexander: History of Mecklenburg County.
Tompkins: History of Mecklenburg County.
Brevard: James Knox Polk. N. C. Prog. 1907.
Graham: The Battle of Cowan's Ford. N. C. Book. Vol. V, No. 4.
Clarkson: Hornet's Nest. N. C. Book. Vol. I, No. 6.
Noble: The Capture of Charlotte by Cornwallis. N. C. Prog. 1907.
Mitchell.—1861. Yancey, Watauga, Caldwell, Burke, and McDowell.
Elisha Mitchell, a professor in the University of North Carolina.
Born in Connecticut, August 19, 1793; educated at Yale College
and entered the ministry. Professor of mathematics, University of
North Carolina, 1817-1825. Professor of chemistry, 1825-1857.
He pointed out the fact that the highest mountain peaks east of
the Rockies are in this State. Climbed to the top of Black Moun-tain
to measure it, and prove his statement. Afterwards, in 1857,
his statement being disputed, he again climbed to the top, and again
measured its height. While on this expedition he fell from a tall
cliff, forty feet high, and was killed. Several days later his body
was found lying at the bottom of a pool of water. It was carried
to Asheville and buried, but afterwards it was taken up and re-buried
on the top of Black Mountain, now called in his honor,
Mount Mitchell. A monument has been erected on top of the
mountain in his memory.
Reference:
The Origin of Mitchell County. N. C. Prog. 1909.
Montgomery.—1779. Anson. General Richard Montgomery, who lost
his life at the battle of Quebec in 1775 while trying to conquer
Canada.
County seat. Troy. John B. Troy, a prominent attorney of the
county, and solicitor.
Moore.—1784. Cumberland. Judge Alfred Moore, of Brunswick.
Born May 21, 1755. Captain in First North Carolina Regiment of
Continentals, 1775 ; served against the Highlanders in campaign
which ended at Moore's Creek Bridge, February 27, 1776 ; took part
35
in defence of Charleston, S. C, 1776; resigned from army 1777.
Admitted to bar 1775; Attorney-General, 1782-1790; member of
House of Commons, 1792 ; Judge Superior Court, 1798-1799 ; Judge
Supreme Court of the United States, 1799-1804. Kesigned 1804.
Died, October 15, 1810.
Nash.—1777. Edgecombe. Francis Nash, a soldier of the Kevolution.
Born in Virginia, 1742. Came to Hillsboro, 1ST. C, 1762. Clerk of
Orange County court, 1763. Member General Assembly, 1764,
1770, 1773. Captain in colonial militia at battle of Alamance, May
16, 1771. Member of Provincial Congress, April, 1775, August,
1775. Lieutenant-Colonel First North Carolina Kegiment Conti-nental
line, 1775; Colonel, 1776; Brigadier-General, 1777. Joined
Washington's army in New Jersey, 1777. Killed at battle of Ger-mantown,
October 4, 1777.
THE DEATH OF GENERAL FRANCIS NASH.
BY ALEXANDER MAKTIN.
Genius of Freedom! Whither art thou fled?
While fields of death thy sons undaunted tread,
Lo, where for thee thy brightest heroes fall,
And not thy shield to ward the winged ball.
On Bunker's height great Warren is no more;
The brave Montgomery's fate we next deplore;
Princeton's fam'd fields to trembling Britain tell,
How, scored with wounds, the conquering Mercer fell;
New England's boast, the generous Worster, slain,
Demands our tears, while Britons fly the plains.
Last flow our sorrows for a favorite son,
Whom, weeping, Carolina claims her own,
The gallant Nash, who, with the fatal wound,
Though tortured, welt'ring on the hostile ground,
"Fight on, my troops," with smiling ardor said,
" 'Tis but the fate of war, be not dismay'd."
High heaven ordain'd for great designs this woe,
Which, till the destined period, none must know.
Heroes of old thus for their country stood,
Raised mighty empires, founded with their blood;
In this new world like great events must come;
Thus Athens rose, and thus imperial Rome.
jSTew Hanover.—1729. Bath. Hanover, a country in Europe whose
ruler became king of England with the title of George I.
County seat. Wilmington. Spencer Compton, Earl of Wilming-ton,
Prime Minister of England, friend and patron of Gen. Gabriel
Johnston, who gave his name to the town.
References:
Waddell: History of New Hanover County.
Davis: Cornelius Harnett: "The Pride of the Cape Fear." N. C.
Prog. 1903.
Connor: Cornelius Harnett. N. C. Book. Vol. V, No. 3.
Whitaker: William Hooper. N. C. Book. Vol. V, No. 1.
Davis: The Stamp Act on the Cape Fear. N. C. Prog. 1903. See
also N. C. Book. Vol. I, No. 3.
36
Sprunt: Tales of the Cape Fear Blockade. N. C. Book. Vol. I,
No. 10. See also N. C. Prog. 1903.
Nash: The Borough Towns of North Carolina (Wilmington). N. C.
Book. Vol. VI, No. 2.
The Lower Cape Fear Section. N. C. Prog. 1903.
McKoy: Incidents of the Early and Permanent Settlement of the
Cape Fear. N. C. Book. Vol. VII, No. 3.
Bassett: The County of Clarendon. N. C. Book. Vol. II, No. 10.
Northampton.—1741. Bertie. George, Earl of Northampton, an Eng-lish
nobleman. His son, Spencer Compton, Earl of Wilmington,
was high in office when Gabriel Johnston was Governor of North
Carolina, who had the town of Wilmington named in his honor.
County seat. Jackson. Andrew Jackson. (See Jackson
County.
Onslow.—1734. Bath. Arthur Onslow, for more than thirty years
Speaker of the House of Commons in the British Parliament.
County seat. Jacksonville. Andrew Jackson. (See Jackson
County.
)
Orange.—1752. Granville, Johnston, and Bladen counties. It was
named Orange in honor of William of Orange, a famous Dutch
soldier and statesman. In 1689 William of Orange became King
of England. In English history he is known as King William III.
He was one of England's best and greatest rulers, and did so much
to secure liberty for the people of England that his name is hon-ored
wherever English liberty is enjoyed. Orange County was set-tled
by the Germans and the Scotch-Irish. Most of that part of
the county settled by the Germans has since been formed into the
counties of Guilford, Randolph, and Alamance.
Hillsboro, the county seat of Orange, was one of the most im-portant
towns in North Carolina for many years before the Revo-lution.
Named for Lord Hillsborough, an English nobleman, Sec-retary
of State for the colonies.
References:
Brooks: The Regulators. N. C. Prog. 1907.
The Origin of Orange County. N. C. Prog. 1908.
Nash: The Scotch-Irish in Orange County. N. C. Prog. 1907.
Nash: History of Orange County. N. C. Book. Vol. X, No. 2.
Nash: Historic Hillsboro. N. C. Book. Vol. Ill, No. 4.
Nash: The Borough Towns of North Carolina (Hillsboro). N. C.
Book. Vol. VI, No. 2.
Pittman: The Revolutionary Congresses of North Carolina. N. C.
Book. Vol. II, No. 6.
Pamlico.—1872. Craven and Beaufort. An Indian name.
Pasquotank.—1672. Albemarle. A tribe of Indians in eastern Caro-lina.
Pender.—1875. New Hanover. William D. Pender, Major-General
in the Confederate army. Born in Edgecombe County, N. C, Feb-ruary
6, 1834. Graduated from the United States Military Acad-emy
at West Point, 1854. Saw service in the West fighting against
Indians. Kesigned from the United States army March 31, 1861,
and in May entered the service of North Carolina. Elected Colonel
37
of the Third Regiment, Worth Carolina Volunteers, May 16, 1861.
Fought bravely in a half dozen pitched battles under "Stonewall"
Jackson, and took part in most of the great battles around Rich-mond.
On account of his skill and bravery at the battle of Fair
Oaks, which was witnessed by President Jefferson Davis, the Presi-dent
promoted him on the field to Brigadier-General. Bore an im-portant
part in the battle of Chancellorsville. The last order given
by "Stonewall" Jackson was to General Pender. "You must hold
your ground, General Pender," he said, as he was carried off the
field, "you must hold your ground." General Pender held his
ground. In May, 1863, he was promoted to Major-General.
Wounded at battle of Gettysburg. Died from this wound, July 18,
1861.
THE BATTLE OF MOORE'S CREEK BRIDGE.
FKOM A POEM BY MARSHALL DELANCEY HAYWOOD.
Recalling now the years long dead,
Methinks again I hear
MacDonald's Highland legions tread
The pathway to Cape Fear.
A winding creek they soon behold,
Spanned by a bridge of pine,
Where, like the Spartan host of old,
Stands drawn our battle line.
"King George and broadswords!" fierce and loud,
Next rings their slogan call,
As their great chieftain, brave McLeod,*
Comes rushing to his fall;
Yet onward still, with charge and cheer,
His clansmen press the fight,
As paladins, unknown to fear,
With claymores long and bright.
The bridge was long, with planks uptorn,
The stream ran swift below,
Yet quick to dare this hope forlorn,
Pressed forward still our foe;
Before our rifles' deadly crack
Full brave they made a stand,
But faltered on the narrow track
Ere they had gained the land.
Then, drenched with blood, they onward bore,
While still was spared them breath,
And fell our fatal guns before
—
Unconquered still in death!
Thus darkly closed that deadly fray
And Freedom's sun uprose,
To shine on happy scenes today
When vanquished are our foes.
References:
Connor: The Battle of Moore's Creek Bridge. N. C. Prog. 1905.
Noble: The Battle of Moore's Creek Bridge. N. C. Book. Vol. Ill,
No. 11.
'Pronounced to rhyme with "cloud."
38
The Lower Cape Fear Section. N. C. Prog. 1903.
McKoy: Incidents of the Early and Permanent Settlement of the
Cape Fear. N. C. Book. Vol. VII, No. 3.
Perquimans.—1672. Albemarle. A tribe of Indians.
County seat. Hertford. Earl of Hertford. (See Hertford
County.
)
References :
Connor: John Harvey. N. C. Book. Vol. VIII, No. 1.
McMullan: Hertford. N. C. Prog. 1902.
Ashe: George Durant. N. C. Book. Vol. X, No. 1.
White: The Quakers of Perquimans. N. C. Book. Vol. VII, No. 4.
Person.—1791. Caswell. General Thomas Person, Revolutionary
patriot, member of the Council of Safety, and trustee of the Uni-versity.
He gave a large sum of money to the University, and a
building was erected in his honor called Person Hall.
Pitt.—1760. Beaufort, William Pitt. (See Chatham.)
County seat. Greenville. Gen. Nathanael Greene. (See Greene
County.
Polk.—1855. Rutherford and Henderson. William Polk, a Revolu-tionary
soldier. Born in Mecklenburg County, N. C, July 9,
1758. Entered Revolutionary army, 1775 ; served in South Caro-lina
; wounded at battle of Canebrake, S. C, December 22, 1775
elected Major Ninth North Carolina Regiment Continental line,
November, 1776 ; joined Washington's army in New Jersey, 1777
took part in battle of Brandywine, Pa., September 11, 1777;
wounded at battle of Germantown, Pa., October 4, 1777 ; aide-de-camp
to General Caswell at battle of Camden, S. C, August 16,
1780; took part in battles of Cowan's Ford, N. C, February 1,
1781, and Guilford Court House, March 15, 1781. Apppinted Lieu-tenant-
Colonel of a South Carolina regiment by Governor Rut-ledge,
of South Carolina ; later Colonel ; took active part in cam-paign
in South Carolina, especially at battle of Eutaw Springs,
September 8, 1781. Served in Legislature 1787, 1790, 1791. Pres-ident
State Bank at Raleigh, 1811-1819. Trustee of University,
1792-1834. Died at Raleigh, January 14, 1834.
County seat. Columbus, Christopher Columbus.
Randolph.—1779. Guilford. Peyton Randolph, an American states-man.
Born near Williamsburg, Ya., in 1723 ; received a classical
education ; studied law and practiced ; served many years in the
Virginia House of Burgesses, and was its Speaker several years;
President of the Virginia Convention in 1773 ; President of the
Continental Congress at Philadelphia, Pa., in 1774; delegate to
Continental Congress, which met at Philadelphia in 1775. Died at
Philadelphia, Pa., October 22, 1775.
County seat. Asheboro. Governor Samuel Ashe. (See Ashe
County.
Reference:
The Origin of Randolph County. N. C. Prog. 1908.
39
Richmond.—1779. Anson. Charles Lennox, Duke of Richmond, prin-cipal
Secretary of State in William Pitt's second administration.
He was a strong friend of the American colonies and made the mo-tion
in the House of Lords that they be granted their independence.
County seat. Rockingham. Charles Wentworth, Marquis of
Rockingham. (See Rockingham County.)
Robeson.—1786. Bladen. Colonel Thomas Robeson, a soldier of the
Revolution. Born in Bladen County, N. C, January 11, 1740.
Member Provincial Congress, August, 1775 ; April, 1776, and No-vember,
1776. An officer in Whig army at battle of Moore's Creek
Bridge, February, 1776. Was appointed Colonel of militia. Active
against Tories throughout the Revolution. His home was burned
by them, 1781. One of the leaders in the battle of Elizabethtown,
September, 1781, where the Tories were defeated and peace estab-lished
in the Cape Fear section. Died May 2, 1785.
Reference:
McMillan: The Croatans. N. C. Book. Vol. X, No. 3.
Rockingham.—1785. Guilford. Charles Wentworth, Marquis of Rock-ingham,
who was the leader of the party in the British Parliament
that advocated American independence. He was Prime Minister
when the Stamp Act was repealed.
County seat. Wentworth. (See above.)
THE HILLS OF DAN.
BY ABRAHAM FORREST MOREHEAD.
The world is not one garden spot,
One pleasure-ground for man;
Few are the spots that intervene,
Such as the "Hills of Dan1
1
"
Though fairer prospects greet mine eyes
In Nature's partial plan,
Yet I am bound by stronger ties,
To love the Hills of Dan.
The breezes that around them play,
And the bright streams they fan,
Are loved as scenes of childhood's day,
Amid the Hills of Dan.
Here, too, the friends of early days,
Their fated courses ran;
And now they find a resting place
Amid the Hills of Dan.
Ye saw the twilight of my dawn,
When first my life began;
And ye shall see that light withdrawn,
My native Hills of Dan.
Whatever fortune may ensue,
In life's short changeful span,
Oft mem'ry shall turn back to view
My native Hills of Dan.
40
The love that warms this youthful breast
Shall glow within the man;
And when I slumber, may I rest
Amid the Hills of Dan.
Rowan.—1753. Anson. Rowan County in 1753 included the territory
that today is found in thirty counties, and it ran so far beyond the
mountains that perhaps no white man in North Carolina had ever
been as far west as its boundary line. Named in honor of Matthew
Rowan, a prominent leader in North Carolina before the Revolu-tion.
Member of the Governor's Council, 1732 ; moved to New
Hanover County, 1734; surveyor-general of North Carolina, 1736;
with Edward Mosely and Robert Halton ran part of the boundary
line between North and South Carolina, 1737. President of Coun-cil
and acting Governor, 1753-1754, when the county of Rowan was
formed. Continued member of Council until his death, in 1760.
County seat. Salisbury. From city of same name in England.
References
:
The Origin of Rowan County. N. C. Prog. 1908.
Rumple: History of Rowan County.
MeCorkle: Colonel Francis Locke. N. C. Book. Vol. X, No. 1.
Nash: The Borough Towns of North Carolina (Salisbury). N. C.
Book. Vol. VI, No. 2.
Rutherford.—1779. Tryon and Burke. General Griffith Rutherford,
a Revolutionary soldier. Born in Ireland ; came to America, 1739 ;
settled in Rowan County, N. C, 1753 ; member General Assembly
1766, 1770, 1771; Sheriff of Rowan County, 1769; member ,Provin-cial
Congresses, 1775-1776; appointed Colonel of Rowan militia,
1775; Brigadier-General, 1776; in July, 1776, led 2,500 men across
the mountains, through Swannanoa Gap, to the Tuckaseegee, down
Valley River and the Hiawassee, against the Cherokee Indians,
destroyed their towns, and put an end to their raids. In 1779 took
part in defence of Savannah, Ga. Wounded and captured at battle
of Camden, August 16, 1780. Member State Senate from Rowan
County, 1777-1780, 1783-1786. In 1786 removed to Tennessee,
where he died in 1800. Both North Carolina and Tennessee have
named counties for him.
County seat. Rutherfordton. Griffith Rutherford.
Sampson.—1784. Duplin and New Hanover. Colonel John Sampson,
who was a member of Governor Martin's Council.
Scotland.—1899. Richmond. Named after the country of Scotland,
the northern part of the island of Great Britain. Most of the peo-ple
of this county are descendants of Scotch Highlanders.
Stanly.—184-1. Montgomery. John Stanly, an American statesman.
Born in North Carolina ; a member of the House of Commons from
New Bern, 1798, 1799, 1812-1815, 1818-1819, 1823, 1825-1826;
Representative in Congress, 1801-1803, 1809-1811. In 1802, as a
result of political disputes he fought a duel with former Governor
Richard Dobbs Spaight, in which Spaight was killed. In 1803
Stanly was pardoned by Governor Benjamin Williams. He died in
New Bern, August 3, 1834.
41
Reference:
The Origin of Stanly County. N. C. Prog. 1908.
Stokes.—1789. Surry. Colonel John Stokes, a soldier of the Revolu-tion.
Born March 20, 1756, probably in Virginia. In February,
1776, appointed Ensign in Sixth Virginia Regiment Continental
line; promoted to Lieutenant December, 1776; Captain February,
1778. Was desperately wounded and lost his right arm at Wax-haw,
when the British, under Tarleton, defeated the Americans
under Buford, May 29, 1780. After the Revolution settled in Mont-gomery
County, K C. Was State Senator, 1786 and 1787. Moved
to Salisbury, 1788. Member General Assembly and also State Con-stitutional
Convention at Fayetteville, which adopted the Consti-tution
of the United States, 1789. Was the law teacher of Andrew
Jackson. Appointed by Washington United States Judge for North
Carolina, 1789. Died October 12, 1790.
Appropriate for programs in Stokes County is a poem, "The
Hills of Dan," printed under Rockingham County, above.
References
:
Clewell: History of Wachovia in North Carolina.
The Origin of Stokes County. N. C. Prog. 1908.
Surry.—1771. Rowan. Lord Surrey, a prominent member of Parlia-ment
who opposed the taxation of the American colonies by Parlia-ment.
THE CLIFF.
(Pilot Mountain, Surry County, North Carolina.)
BY JOHN HENRY BONER.
See yonder cliff—how ghastly bare
Lightning has torn its rugged face.
It looks like one whom cursed care
Has robbed of every peaceful grace.
Yet how sublime! How proudly still!
Barren and thunder-beat and drear.
Behold the unconquerable will,
Dead to emotion—love or fear
—
Unchanging when the rising sun
Gilds its high head with heavenly light,
Or when the red moon breaks upon
Its brow across the gulf of night.
3wain.—1871. Jackson and Macon. David L. Swain, Governor of
North Carolina and President of the University. Born January
4, 1801, in Buncombe County; admitted to the bar in 1822; mem-ber
of the General Assembly, 1824, 1825, 1826, 1828, 1829. Elected
Superior Court Judge, 1830. Governor of North Carolina, 1833-
1835. Member of the Constitutional Convention, 1835. President
of the University, 1835-1868. The doors of the University were
closed by the "carpet-bag" government of North Carolina in 1868,
and President Swain was dismissed. Died August 27, 1868.
42
References
:
The Origin of Swain County. N. C. Prog. 1909.
Vance: David L. Swain. N. C. Prog. 1909.
Connor: Cherokee Indians in the Revolution. N. C. Prog. 1909.
Stringfield: The North Carolina Cherokee Indians. N. C. Book.
Vol. Ill, No. 2. Also Vol. IV, No. 8.
Transylvania.—1861. Henderson and Jackson. The name is derived
from two Latin words, "trans," across, "sylva," woods.
County seat. Brevard. Ephraim Brevard, one of the leaders
in Mecklenburg County, who helped to win for Charlotte the name,
"The Hornets' Nest" of the Kevolution.
Under Buncombe County is a poem, "Racing Waters" (the French
Broad river), which is also appropriate for use in Transylvania
County.
Reference:
The Origin of Transylvania County. N. C. Prog. 1909.
Tyrrell.—1729. Albemarle. Sir John Tyrrell, who at one time was
one of the lords proprietors.
Union.—1842. Anson and Mecklenburg. Named in honor of the
"Union" of the States.
County seat. Monroe. James Monroe, fifth President of the
United States.
Vance.—1881. Granville, Warren, and Franklin. Zebulon Baird
Vance. Born, in Buncombe County, N. C, May 13, 1830 ; educated
at Washington College, Tenn., and at the University of North
Carolina; studied law; admitted to the bar in January, 1852 ; county
attorney for Buncombe County; member of the State House of
Commons in 1854; Representative in Congress, 1857-1861. En-tered
the Confederate army as Captain in May, 1861, and made
Colonel in August, 1861. Elected Governor of North Carolina in
August, 1862, and reelected in 1864; elected to the United
States Senate in November, 1870, but was refused admission, and
resigned in January, 1872 ; again Governor of North Carolina in
1876-1878 ; elected to the United States Senate and took his seat
March 18, 1879 ; reelected in 1884 and 1890, serving until his death,
April 14, 1894.
County seat. Henderson. Leonard Henderson. (See Hender-son
County.)
Wake.—1770. Johnston, Cumberland, and Orange. Governor Tryon's
wife, whose maiden name was Wake. Some historians say that the
county was named for "Esther Wake, the popular sister of Tryon's
wife," but there is no reason to suppose that any such person ever
existed. She is purely a creature of the imagination.
County seat. Raleigh. Sir Walter Raleigh.
References:
Battle: The Early History of Raleigh.
Amis: Historical Raleigh.
Briggs: Joseph Gales, Editor of Raleigh's first newspaper. N. C
Book. Vol. VII, No. 2.
43
Battle: Raleigh and the Old Town of Bloomsbury. N. C. Book.
Vol. II, No. 7.
Addresses at the unveiling of the tablet marking the site of Blooms-bury.
N. C. Book. Vol. XI, No. 1.
Haywood: The Genesis of Wake County. N. C. Book. Vol. V, No. 1.
Warren.—1779. Bute and Granville. General Joseph Warren, a
brave Massachusetts soldier who fell while fighting at the battle of
Bunker Hill.
Washington.—1799. Tyrrell. George Washington.
County seat. Plymouth. Town of the same name in England,
whence sailed Raleigh's expeditions to Roanoke Island, 1584-1587.
Watauga.—1849. Ashe, Wilkes, Caldwell, and Yancey. Named after
an Indian tribe.
The county seat is Boone, named in honor of the famous hunter,
Daniel Boone. Born in Pennsylvania; moved into North Carolina
and settled on Yadkin River when a boy. Soon grew tired of his
quiet life on the Yadkin and started for the unbroken wilderness
across the mountains, and explored what is now Tennessee and
Kentucky. Afterwards returned to North Carolina, but nine years
later went still further into the wild woods, followed by his own
family and several other hunters; they made a settlement called
Boonesboro on the banks of Kentucky river, which was the begin-ning
of Kentucky.
Reference:
The Origin of Watauga County. N. C. Prog. 1909.
Wayne.—1779. Dobbs and Craven. Anthony Wayne, a Revolutionary
soldier. Born in Pennsylvania, January 1, 1745 ; received a lim-ited
education ; farmer ; member of the colonial house of represen-tatives
in 1773 ; served in the Revolutionary army ; after the war
moved to Georgia, and located upon a tract of land donated him
by that State as a recompense for his military service; delegate to
the State Constitutional Convention in 1787 ; Representative in
Congress from Georgia, 1791-1792 ; in 1792 his seat was declared
vacant by the House ; again entered the service of the United States
army as Major-General and General-in-Chief of the army; con-cluded
a treaty August 3, 1795, with the hostile Indians northwest
of the Ohio river. Died at Presque Isle, Pa., December 15, 1796.
Reference:
Ellet: The Midnight Ride of Mary Slocum. N. C. Prog. 1903.
Wilkes.—1777. Surry and Burke. John Wilkes. Wilkes was a vio-lent
opponent of the Tory Party in England, who would not let
him take his seat in Parliament to which he had been elected. The
Americans imagined he was suffering in the cause of liberty and
named the county in his honor.
Wilson.—1855. Edgecombe, Nash, Johnston, and Wayne. Louis D.
Wilson. Born in Edgecombe County, May 12, 1789. Twenty
times elected to the General Assembly. Served in House of Com-mons,
1815, 1816, 1817, 1818, 1819; in Senate, 1820, 1824, 1825,
1826, 1827, 1828, 1829, 1830, 1831, 1832, 1838, 1840, 1842, 1844,
44
1846. Speaker of the Senate, 1832. Member of Constitutional
Convention, 1835. Presidential elector, 1836. In 1846 obtained
leave of absence from the Senate, returned home, raised a regiment,
and joined United States Army in the Mexican War. The Senate
unanimously adopted a resolution expressing regret at his resigna-tion,
and thanking him for his "able, dignified, and patriotic serv-ices"
to the State. Was appointed by President of the United
States Colonel 12th Regiment United States Army. Died in Mex-ico,
from fever, August 12, 1847. Left his estate "to
t
the poor of
Edgecombe." A monument has been erected to him at Tarboro.
Yadkin.—1850. Surry. Name derived from the name of the Yadkin
River which runs through it. It is supposed to be an Indian name.
Yancey.—1833. Burke and Buncombe. Bartlett Yancey. Born in
Caswell County, ST. C, about 1780 ; graduated from the University
of North Carolina; studied law and practiced; Representative in
Congress, 1813-1817. State Senator and Speaker of the Senate,
1817-1827. Died in Caswell County, K C, August 30, 1828.
County seat. Burnsville. Otway Burns, of Beaufort. Captain
of a privateer during the War of 1812, which inflicted great dam-age
to English commerce. Member House of Commons from Car-teret
County, 1821-1822, 1824-1827, 1832. State Senator, 1828-
1829, 1831, 1833-1834.
CAROLINA.
FROM CAROLINA, BY THOMAS W. HARRINGTON.
Carolina, the pride of my bosom,
Carolina, the land of the free,
Carolina, the home of my fathers,
Carolina, my song is of thee.
From Mitchell, the pride of the mountains,
To Hatteras, the dread of the sea,
The sunshine of liberty gladdens
And Tyranny trembles at thee.
Her honor is high as the summit
Of Mitchell, her loftiest peak;
Her vigor is that of the Roman,
Her spirit is that of the Greek.
Her daughters are bright as the sunshine
That lightens the hills of the west,
And fair as the rose of the valley
That blushes and blooms on her breast.
Carolina! Carolina, forever!
A glorious destiny waits
Carolina, the cradle of freedom,
The noblest of all the great States.
NORTH CAROLINA AND NORTH CAROLINIANS IN HISTORY.
BY MATT W. RANSOM.
A DECLAMATION.
(From an address delivered at Greensboro, at the "First North Carolina Reunion," October 12, 1903.)
It is impossible to express our emotions on beholding this unnum-bered
multitude; this countless throng of intelligent, happy, hopeful,
expectant faces from every section of this boundless Republic; all ani-mated
with one sentiment of fervid interest and affection for the "dear
old home." Here, right here, are united throbbing hearts, from all
the divisions of our country, in one patriotic aspiration for renewed
and continued brotherhood and association. One hope, one purpose
—
for the oblivion of every painful memory. It is an occasion for uni-versal
congratulation—not a cloud, not a shadow on the day—the whole
horizon beams. with promise and hope. It is a day of destiny; of power
and patriotism. It is a day in history, of glorious life—a day without
a discord. We can almost see the bow of peace with its covenants in
the eternal skies * * * * * * *
What memories ! What histories, does this scene revive ! We can
almost behold the beautiful myth of tradition and history, and see the
gallant, gifted, glorious Raleigh springing from his proud ship and
planting the standard of England and the Cross on the shores of the
New World near the Roanoke. We can almost hear the echoes of the
great Atlantic beating its "alarms" on "deathly Hatteras." We can
watch the first colonists on their frail but faithful vessels with nothing
but the love of liberty and the love of God alive in their hearts. We
see colony after colony lost,- and nothing left but the dismal romance
of a tragedy. Finally, a settlement is established, the first permanent
beginning of a free civilized government in the Western Hemisphere,
destined soon to become the greatest, grandest, best, the sun has shone
on. The forest is subdued—the savage is overcome—a chain of set-tlements
from Plymouth Rock to Georgia follows.
Agriculture, Commerce, Trade, the Arts succeed; the New World
flourishes ; the Mother Country menaces her liberties. Resistance,
united resistance is made. Mecklenburg—glorious, immortal Mecklen-burg—
on the twentieth day of May, 1775, lights on the streets of de-voted
Charlotte the first fire of American Independence. North Caro-lina
consecrates herself to liberty, and free government. A free State
is organized at Halifax, "heroic Halifax." Her constitution declares
for a university of learning, and for education of the people. The
Battle of Moore's Creek is Avon. The victory of King's Mountain
strikes the British with dismay. Cornwallis "staggers back" from
Guilford Courthouse, wounded, crippled, sick, to finally surrender at
Yorktown. The sword of Washington everywhere is triumphant, glo-rious—
but greatest and best when his own great hand resigns it to the
laws of his country. A united free government is founded by the
States and people, and North Carolina after deliberation adopts her
46
Constitution, and demands admission to the Union. Washington, the
Father of his Country, then President of the United States of America,
hails her coming into the Union, and pronounces her the "important
State of North Carolina.'7 History says of her that she has always
defied and destroyed oppression; that tyranny lies dead at her feet;
that she has never worn the yoke of power; that her people may right-fully
be called "The Children of Liberty." No stain of fraud, cruelty,
persecution, or shame, darkens her fair name; but her whole life is
the unsullied record of a brave, honest, upright people, devoted to lib-erty,
law, order, and to God. My countrymen, for one moment let us
contemplate a few, a very few, of the thousand names who have hon-ored,
adorned, blessed her history.
The Revolution records no brighter or truer names than those of
Caswell, Davie, Sumner, Nash, Davidson, Ashe, Cleveland, McDowell,
Moore, Waddell * * * * A more faithful, noble, illustrious, mod-est
line of patriots, heroes, martyrs, can not be found, than our beloved
State presents in her Revolutionary history. Their ashes sleep in
deathless memory and gratitude among the deliverers and benefactors
of their country and mankind.
Among the heroes of the Revolution is the name of Nathaniel Ma-con—
born in the County of "Bute" (now the counties of Warren and
Franklin). History says "there were no Tories in Bute." The Fed-eral
Government was barely established when he appears in Congress
as a representative from North Carolina. He remained in the House
and Senate for thirty-seven years. Three times Speaker of the House,
and twice President of the Senate. His history is known to the world.
If the Senate stands for a thousand years, he will continue to stand as
its model figure of honesty, and devotion to the people's rights, * * *
Then comes the able, learned, eloquent Gaston, the proved superior
of Henry Clay in parliamentary debate. Next Badger, the Master of
Law; "Webster's Superior and Story's Equal"; to whom the Senate of
the United States accorded the unmatched honor of unanimously de-claring
in solemn resolution recorded in its annals, its sincere regret
at his leaving the Senate, and the admiration and respect of the Sena-tors
for his ability and courtesy. * * * *
Let me but touch a few of the tallest oaks in the grand forest. See
Daniel Boone, monarch of the woods and rifle. Look at Andrew Jack-son,
the one conqueror without a defeat; the crowned hero of New
Orleans, the greatest battle ever fought; the invincible president and
statesman, who crushed all opposition under his feet. James K. Polk,
the able, just, and wise President ; chief actor in the annexation of
Texas ; President when the Mexican War was fought ; and who ex-tended
our territory and power broadly to the Pacific. Thomas H.
Benton, the Hercules of the Senate for thirty years. William R. King,
Vice-President with Pierce. * * * *
My countrymen, it is my duty, sacred to truth, to history, and to our
whole country, to remind you of the conduct of North Carolina, our
mother State, in that memorable war of the States. It is a history
without a thorn. Far from reviving bitterness and cruel animosity, its
exalted influence is to compose strife, to bury differences, to reconcile
47
a people, and to strengthen fraternal union. There is nothing, literally
nothing, in the history of North Carolina to give one pain to the people
of any part of the country. It is as clear as a sunbeam. Not a shame
on the record. Not one sinister line on her bright page. It is as direct
as a ray of sunshine from the skies. She sent to the field one hundred
and twenty-five thousand men, one-fifth of the Southern Army. The
world knows its history by heart. For indomitable courage, for in-vincible
fortitude, for heroic sacrifice, it has never been surpassed.
For magnanimity in triumph, dignity in defeat, serene equinimity in
surrender, it is without a parallel. It left its animosity with the ragged
fragments of banners and arms on the field of Appomattox. It buried
all hostilities in the beloved graves of its glorious battlefields. It re-turned
to its home in peace with all mankind. Its heart did not retain
a resentment, a malice, or a revenge. It was too full of sorrow, too
full of honor for hatred. Its part was too great, too brave, too noble,
to cherish a discord. The guns had been stacked, and its duty was
peace. It had met its fate, and there was no stain on its sword. It
would not perpetuate fire and blood. It would cultivate the arts of
peace, of patriotism. The war was ended. The sword had settled the
quarrel, and forever. North Carolinians returned to their wasted
homes, to rebuild, to cultivate, to improve them, to revive her indus-tries,
to preserve her honor, to raise patriots and Christians to take
their places; to preserve liberty and do their whole duty to their coun-try
and to God. They went to work, and today we behold the result
in restored prosperity, in secured liberty, in increasing happiness, in
sacred love to country, and in the national hope of all the enjoyment
of citizens in a common brotherhood.
Three years ago a war broke out between this country and Spain.
With the first call of troops, North Carolina was at the front. The
great State sent her sons to the army, and the first victim of the war
was the brave, beautiful, heroic Worth Bagley. In the flower of man-hood,
with the blessings of his beloved mother on his brow, he gave his
young, promising life to his country on the deck of the Winslow in
Cardenas Bay. The young hero fell a noble sacrifice to his country,
and poured out his lifeblood for the honor of the Union, and died with
its flag in his hand. Beloved North Carolinian
The tears of his countrymen were still flowing when the wires brought
the sad news that Captain William Shipp, of North Carolina, the pride,
the hope of his house and State, had fallen, in the front line of the
charge at Santiago, bravely doing his duty.
North Carolina wept over her gallant, devoted sons ; she had proudly
given .them to the Union, and their blood had been hallowed in its
defense. May it forever cement its bonds, and remain the eternal
sacrement of love and peace of all the States. Let fanaticism hide its
hideous head before the encircling, glorious spectacle of renewed Union.
Think of the brave, heroic, bright, young Batcheler deliberately dy-ing
for his duty in the burning air of the Philippines
My countrymen, it is a great thing to know that North Carolinians
are always to be found in the front line of danger and duty.
48
AMERICA.
BY S. F. SMITH.
My country, 'tis of thee,
Sweet land of liberty,
Of thee I sing;
Land where my fathers died,
Land of the Pilgrim's pride,
From every mountain side
Let freedom ring.
My native country, thee,
Land of the noble free,
Thy name I love;
I love thy rocks and rills,
Thy woods and templed hills,
My heart with rapture thrills,
Like that above.
Let music swell the breeze,
And ring from all the trees,
Sweet freedom's song;
Let mortal tongues awake,
Let all that breathe partake,
Let rocks their silence break,
The sound prolong.
Our father's God, to Thee,
Author of liberty,
To Thee we sing;
Long may our land be bright
With freedom's holy light;
Protect us by Thy might,
Great God, our King!
49
GOVERNORS OF NORTH CAROLINA SINCE 1776.
Elected by the Legislature. 1
19, 1776—April .., 1780 Richard Caswell .Lenoir
-., 1780—June 25, 1781 Abner Nash Craven
25, 1781—April 22, 1782 Thomas Burke Orange
22, 1782—Nov. 8, 1784 Alexander Martin Guilford
9, 1784—Dec. 13, 1787 Richard Caswell Lenoir
13, 1787—Dec. 5, 1789 Samuel Johnston . Chowan
5, 1789—Dec. 11, 1792 Alexander Martin Guilford
11, 1792—Nov. 14, 1795 Richard Dobbs Spaight Craven
14, 1795—Dec. 3, 1798 Samuel Ashe New Hanover
3, 1798—Nov. 24, 1799 William R. Davie Halifax
24, 1799—Dec. 6, 1802 Benjamin Williams Moore
6, 1802—Nov. 24, 1805 James Turner Warren
25, 1805—Nov. 24, 1807 Nathaniel Alexander Mecklenburg
25, 1807—Nov. 28, 1808 Benjamin Williams Moore
28, 180S—Dec. 1, 1810 David Stone Bertie
1, 1810—Dee. 7, 1811 Benjamin Smith Brunswick
7, 1811—Nov. 20, 1814 William Hawkins Warren
20, 1814—Dec. 6, 1817 William Miller Warren
6, 1817—Dec. 7, 1820 John Branch Halifax
7, 1820—Dec. 7, 1821 Jesse Franklin Surry
7, 1821—Dec. 7, 1824 Gabriel Holmes Sampson
7, 1824—Dec. 8, 1827 Hutchins G. Burton Halifax
8, 1827—Dec. 12, 1828 James Iredell Chowan
12, 1828—Dec. 18, 1830 John Owen Bladen
18, 1830—Dec. 6, 1832 Montford Stokes Wilkes
6, 1832—Dec. 10, 1835 David L. Swain Buncombe
10, 1835—Dec. 31, 1836 Richard Dobbs Spaight, Jr Craven
Governors Elected by the People.2
31, 1836—Jan. 1, 1841 Edward B. Dudley : New Hanove
1, 1841—Jan. 1, 1845 John M. Morehead Guilford
1, 1845—Jan. 1, 1849 William A. Graham Orange
1, 1849—Jan. 1, 1851 Charles Manly , Wake
1, 1851— 1854 David S. Reid Rockingham
1854—Jan. 1, 1855 Warren Winslow Cumberland
1, 1855—Jan. 1, 1859 Thomas Bragg Northampton
1, 1859—Julv 7, 1861 John W. Ellis Rowan
7, 1861—Sept. 8, 1862 Henrv T. Clark Edgecombe
8, 1862—May 29, 1865 Zebulon B. Vance Buncombe
29, 1865—Dec. 15, 1865 William W. Holden.... Wake
15, 1865—July 1, 1868 ..Jonathan Worth Randolph
1, 1868—Mar. 22, 1871 William W. Holden3 Wake
32, 1871—Julv 14, 1874 Tod R. Caldwell Burke
14, 1874—Jan. 1, 1877 Curtis H. Brogden Wayne
1, 1877—Feb. 5, 1879 Zebulon B. Vance Mecklenburg
5, 1879—Jan. 21, 1885 Thomas J. Jarvis Pitt
21, 1885—Jan. 17, 1889 Alfred M. Scales Rockingham
17, 1889—April 8, 1891 Daniel G. Fowle Wake
8, 1891—Jan. 18, 1893 Thomas M. Holt Alamance
18, 1893—Jan. 12, 1897 Elias Carr .... .Edgecombe
12, 1897—Jan. 15, 1901 Daniel L. Russell Brunswick
15, 1901—Jan. 11, 1905 Charles B. Aycock Wayne
11, 1905—Jan. 12, 1909 Robert B. Glenn Forsyth
12, 1909— William W. Kitchin Person
^erm of office one year.
2Term of office changed to two years in 1835.
3Term of office changed to four years in 1868.
CHIEF JUSTICES OF THE SUPREME COURT.
1818-1829 John Louis Taylor Cumberland
1829-1833 Leonard Henderson Granville
1833-1852 Thomas Ruffin Orange
1852-1858 Frederick Nash Orange
1858-1878 Richmond M. Pearson Yadkin
1878-1889 W. N. H. Smith Wake
1889-1893 A. S. Merrimon Wake
1893-1895 James E. Shepherd Beaufort
1895-1901 W. T. Faircloth Wayne
1901-1903 D. M. Furches Iredell
1903- Walter Clark Wake
50
PRESIDING OFFICERS OF THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY.
SPEAKERS OF THE STATE SENATE.
1777 Samuel Ashe New Hanover
1778 Whitmill Hill Martin
1778-1779 Allen Jones Northampton
1780-1782 Alexander Martin Guilford
1782-1784 Richard Caswell Dobbs
1785 Alexander Martin Guilford
1786 James Coor Craven
1787-1788 Alexander Martin Guilford
1789 Charles Johnson Chowan
1790-1794 William Lenoir Wilkes
1795-1799 Benjamin Smith Brunswick
1800-1804 Joseph Riddick Gates
1805 Alexander Martin Rockingham
1806-1811 Joseph Riddick Gates
1812-1814 George Outlaw Bertie
1815-1817 John Branch Halifax
1817-1827 Bartlett Yancey Caswell
1828 Jesse Speight Greene
1829 Bedford Brown Caswell
1829-1831 David F. Caldwell Rowan
1832-1835 William D. Moseley Lenoir
1836 Hugh Waddell Orange
1838-1840 Andrew Joyner Halifax
1842 Louis D. Wilson Edgecombe
1844 Burgess S. Gaither Burke
1846 Andrew Joyner Halifax
1848 Calvin Graves Caswell
1850-1852 Weldon N. Edwards Warren
1854 Warren Winslow Cumberland
1856 W. W. Avery Burke
1858-1860 Henry T. Clark Edgecombe
1862-1864 Giles Mebane Alamance
1865 Thomas Settle Rockingham
1865 C. S. Winstead Person
1866 M. E. Manly Craven
1866 J. H. Wilson Mecklenburg
1868-1870
1871-1872
1872. .
1872. .
1874. .
1876-1879
1879-1881
1881-1883
1885-1887
1889-1891
1891...
1893-1895
1897-1899
1901-1903
1905-1907
1909-1911
PRESIDENTS OF THE SENATE.
Tod R. Caldwell Burke
E. J. Warren Beaufort
Curtis H. Brogden Wayne
James T. Morehead Guilford
R. F. Armfield Iredell
Thomas J. Jarvis Pitt
J. L. Robinson Macon
J. L. Robinson Macon
Charles M. Stedman New Hanover
Thomas M. Holt Alamance
John L. King. Guilford
R. A. Doughton Alleghany
Charles A. Reynolds Forsyth
W. D. Turner Iredell
Francis D. Winston Bertie
William C. Newland Caldwell
SPEAKERS OF THE HOUSE OF COMMONS.
1777 Abner Nash Craven
1778 John Williams Granville
1778-1782 Thomas Benbury Chowan
51
1783 Edward Starkey Onslow
1784 (May Session) Thomas Benbury Chowan
1784 (October Session) .... William Blount Craven
1785 Richard Dobbs Spaight Craven
1786 John Baptista Ashe Halifax
1787-1788 John Sitgreaves New Bern1
1789-1792 Stephen Cabarrus Chowan
1793 John Leigh Edgecombe
1794 Timothy Bloodworth New Hanover
1795-1796 John Leigh Edgecombe
1797-1799 Mussendine Matthews Iredell
1800-1805 Stephen Cabarrus Chowan
1806 John Moore Lincoln
1807-1808 Joshua G. Wright Wilmington
1808 William Gaston New Bern
1899 Thomas Davis Fayetteville
1810-1811 William Hawkins Granville
1812-1814 William Miller Warren
1814 Frederick Nash Orange
1815 John Craige Orange
1816 Thomas Ruffin Hillsboro
1817-1818 James Iredell Edenton
1819-1820 Romulus M. Saunders Caswell
1821 James Mebane Orange
1822 John D. Jones Wilmington
1823-1824 Alfred Moore Brunswick
1825-1826 John Stanly New Bern
1827 James Iredell Edenton
1827-1828 Thomas Settle .Rockingham
1829 William T. Alexander Mecklenburg
1830-1831 Charles Fisher Salisbury
1832 Louis D. Henry Fayetteville
1833 William T. Alexander Mecklenburg
1835-1836 William H. Haywood, Jr Wake
1838-1840 William A. Graham Orange
1840 Robert B. Gilliam Granville
1842 Calvin Graves Caswell
1844-1846 Edward Stanly Beaufort
1846-1848 Robert B. Gilliam Granville
1850 James C. Dobbin Cumberland
1852 John Baxter Henderson
1854 Samuel P. Hill Caswell
1856 Jesse G. Shepherd Cumberland
1858 Thomas Settle, Jr Rockingham
1860 William T. Dortch Wayne
1862 Robert B. Gilliam Granville
1862-1864 R. S. Donnell Beaufort
1865 Samuel F. Phillips Orange
1866 R. Y. McAden Alamance
SPEAKERS OF THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES.
1868-1869 Joseph W. Holden Wake
1869 William A. Moore Chowan
1870-1871 Thomas J. Jarvis Tyrrell
1872-1874 J. L. Robinson Macon
1876 Charles Price Davie
1879 John M. Moring Chatham
1881 Charles M. Cooke Franklin
1883 George M. Rose Cumberland
1885 Thomas M. Holt Alamance
1887 John R. Webster Rockingham
1 Wherever towns are given instead of counties, it means that the member was a borough represen-tative.
1889..
1891..
1893..
1895.
1897.
1899..
1901..
1903..
1905.
1907.
1909.
1911..
A. Leazer Iredell
R. A. Doughton Alleghany
Lee S. Overman Rowan
Z. V. Walser Davidson
A. F. Hileman Cabarrus
H. G. Connor Wilson
Walter E. Moore Jackson
S. M. Gattis Orange
Owen H. Guion Craven
E. J. Justice Guilford
A. W. Graham Granville
W. C. Dowd Mecklenburg
MEMBERS OF THE CONTINENTAL CONGRESS FROM NORTH
CAROLINA.
1774-1776 Richard Caswell.
1774-1777 William Hooper.
1774-1777 Joseph Hewes . . .
1775-1776 John Penn
1777-1780
1777-1780
1777-1781
1778-1779
1778-1781
1779-1779
1779-1780
Dobbs
New Hanover
Chowan
Granville
Cornelius Harnett New Hanover
John Penn Granville
Thomas Burke Orange
John Williams Granville
Whitmill Hill Martin
Joseph Hewes Chowan
Allen Jones Northampton
1779-1782 William Sharpe Rowan
1780-1781 Willie Jones Halifax
1780-1782
1781-1784
1782-1783
1782-1784
1782-1785
Samuel Johnston Chowan
Benjamin Hawkins Warren
William Blount Craven
Abner Nash Craven
Hugh Williamson Chowan
1783-1785 Richard Dobbs Spaight Craven
1784-1784 William dimming Pasquotank
1784-1785 John Sitgreaves Craven
1785-1786 Abner Nash Craven
1786-1787 Timothy Bloodworth New Hanover
1786-1787 William Blount Craven
1786-1787 Benjamin Hawkins Warren
1786-1788 Alexander White
1787-1788 John B. Ashe Halifax
1787-1788 Robert Burton Halifax (?)
1787-1788 John Swann Pasquotank
1787-1788 Hugh Williamson Chowan
UNITED STATES SENATORS FROM NORTH CAROLINA.
1789-1793 Samuel Johnston Chowan
1789-1795 Benjamin Hawkins Warren
1793-1799. . , Alexander Martin Guilford
1795-1801 Timothy Bloodworth New Hanover
1799-1805 Jesse Franklin Surry
1801-1807 David Stone Bertie
1805-1816 James Turner Warren
1807-1813. Jesse Franklin Surrv
1813-1815 David Stone Bertie
1815-1828 Nathaniel Macon Warren
1816-1823 Montfort. Stokes Wilkes
1823-1829 John Branch Halifax
1828-1831 James Iredell Chowan
1829-1840 Bedford Brown Caswell
1831-1836 Willie P. Mangum Orange
1836-1840 Robert Strange Cumberland
1840-1853 Willie P. Mangum Orange
1840-1843 William A. Graham Orange
1843-1846 William H. Haywood, Jr Wake
1846-1855 George E. Badger Wake
1853-1859 David S. Reid Rockingham
1855-1858 Asa Biggs Martin
1858-1861 Thomas L. Clingman Buncombe
1859-1861 Thomas Bragg Wake
1861-1868 Vacant
1868-1871 Joseph C. Abbott New Hanover
1868-1873 John Pool Pasquotank
1872-1895 Matt W. Ransom Northampton
1873-1879 A. S. Merrimon Wake
1879-1894 Zebulon B. Vance Mecklenburg
1894-1895 Thomas J. Jarvis Pitt
1895-1903 Jeter C. Pritchard Madison
1895-1901 Marion Butler Sampson
1901- Furnifold M. Simmons Jones
1903- Lee S. Overman Rowan
CONFEDERATE STATES SENATORS FROM NORTH CAROLINA.
1862-1864 George Davis New Hanover
1862-1865 William T. Dortch Wayne
1864-1865 William A. Graham Orange
1864-1865 Edwin G. Reade Person
THE RALEIGH STATUE.
I wish to call special attention to the following letter from General
Julian S. Carr, relative to a penny collection from the public school
children of North Carolina for the erection of a statue to Sir Walter
Kaleigh. At the October (1902) meeting of the State Literary and His-torical
Association, an organization that is doing much for the promo-tion
of literature, the preservation of history and the upbuilding of the
public schools, a resolution offered by General Carr was adopted, request-ing
this collection for this purpose from the school children of the State,
on whose soil Sir Walter Raleigh planted the first English colony in
America, which resulted in wresting this continent from the Spaniards.
I most heartily endorse this idea, and feel that such a collection for such
a purpose from our children would be a fitting expression of gratitude to
this great maker of the first chapter of our history.
I suggest that every school in the State take a collection on North
Carolina Day for the Raleigh statue. All collections for this purpose!
should be sent to Mr. Joseph G. Brown, Raleigh, N. C, treasurer ofj
this fund.
Very truly,
J. Y. JOYNER,
Superintendent Public Instruction.
THE SIR WALTER RALEIGH STATUE.
UTILITY OF ITS ERECTION IN NASH SQUARE, RALEIGH.
To the School Children, School Officers and Teachers in North Carolina:
Nash Square, as doubtless many of you know, is the open square or
park just in front of Union Depot in the city of Raleigh. It is in the
center of this square, in this our capital city, named so fitly in honor
of Sir Walter Raleigh, that it is proposed to erect a statue to com-memorate
his services to the English-speaking people. His efforts to
colonize Roanoke Island connect the history of North Carolina with
that of America at a most vital point. It was in North Carolina, and
through Raleigh's efforts, that English colonization was begun. He is
therefore the father of it ; and it was on our own coast that he began
the operations whose results have changed the current of human affairs.
Any one familiar with our coast and the history of that time can see at
a glance the wisdom of his choice. In 1584, the time of the landing
of his first colony, Spain was the mistress of the seas, as well as of
the land. Her great ships, as well as her great armies, were the terror
of all nations. She had destroyed every vestige of French colonization
begun or attempted on the Atlantic coast from North Carolina to
Florida. Only one good thing was obtained by French exploration,
and that was information of the only part of that coast that was not
susceptible to attacks by large ships; that is the coast of North Caro-lina,
the best protected in the world; and of this information, England,
through Raleigh, and not France, was destined to get the benefit. So
it was not without design and far-reaching purpose that he sent his
little caravels to the shores of North Carolina. It was behind the pro-tection
of her everlasting barriers of sand that Barlowe wrote his fa-mous
prospectus, and Lane made his surveys which electrified the Eng-lish-
speaking people and sowed the seed in the minds of the rising gen-eration
which made the colony of Jamestown, Virginia, twenty-three
years later, and the colony of Plymouth, Massachusetts, thirty-six
years later, practicable. Raleigh's colonies were, in effect, the parents
of all the English settlements in North America. His effort to effect
permanent settlements in North Carolina from 1584 to 1590 was, there-fore,
no failure, and should not be so regarded by any rightly instructed
student of history. To emphasize his zeal and devotion, his faith and
his courage, this man, of whom the world was not worthy, was allowed
a martyr's last privilege of laying down his life and his fortune for
his cause.
Inspired by these things and by the fact that there is nowhere on
earth a monument to Sir Walter Raleigh, and there is nowhere a place
so fitting to erect it as the soil of North Carolina and the city she has
named to commemorate his virtues, a motion was made at the last meet-ing
of the State Literary and Historical Association in 1902 to erect
this statue in the most effective way possible—that is, by penny con-tributions
from the school children of North Carolina; and in order
56
to emphasize the utility as well as the adaptation of this method, at
the same meeting of the Association a bag of pennies, one for every
white child in Durham County, was brought forward and presented
as the first contribution to the statue.
So the movement may be said to have been practically inaugurated
by the public school children of one of the most progressive and en-lightened
counties in the State. Since that time many schools and
colleges have sent in their contributions. It is desired that every child
of school age in our State should be given an opportunity to contribute
his penny.
It should be further added that the committee having in charge the
erection of this statue have prepared a calendar for the school children
of North Carolina, containing a synopsis of the principal events in the
life of Sir Walter Kaleigh, and the same will be shortly hung upon
the walls of the school houses of North Carolina. It is requested that
the collections for this statue be made on North Carolina Day, and
that they be sent through the County Superintendents to Mr. Joseph
G. Brown, Ealeigh, N. C.
To the school children of North Carolina and their teachers and
officers is commended the study of North Carolina history, beginning
with the man who was its very source and greatest exemplar—the man
who, with Columbus and the other great explorers and navigators of
that time, gave to the world two continents with all their wealth and
fullness, homes for the teeming millions which now enjoy them. As
you consider him he will loom up and stand conspicuous in that grand-eur
which requires the distance of centuries to truly appreciate.
With distinguished consideration, I beg to subscribe myself,
Your most obedient servant,
Julian S. Caer.

PROGRAM OF EXERCISES
FOR
NORTH CAROLINA DAY
(LOCAL HISTORY)
FRIDAY. DECEMBER 22. 1911
PREPARED BY
R. D. W. CONNOR,
Secretary of the North Carolina Historical Commission
A people who have not the pride to record their history will not long have
the virtue to make history that is worth recording.
ISSUED FROM THE OFFICE OF THE
STATE SUPERINTENDENT OF PUBLIC INSTRUCTION
RALEIGH, N. C.
CHAPTER 164
OF THE PUBLIC LAWS OF 1901
An Act to Provide for the Celebration of North Carolina Day in the
Public Schools.
The General Assembly of North Carolina do enact:
Section 1. That the 12th day of October in each and every year, to
be called "North Carolina Day," may be devoted, by appropriate exer-cises
in the public schools of the State, to the consideration of some
topic or topics of our State history, to be selected by the Superintend-ent
of Public Instruction : Provided, that if the said day shall fall on
Saturday or Sunday, then the celebration shall occur on the Monday
next following: Provided further, that if the said day shall fall at a
time when any such schools may not be in session, the celebration may
be held within one month from the beginning of the term, unless the
Superintendent of Public Instruction shall designate some other time.
Sec. 2. This act shall be in force from and after its ratification.
In the General Assembly read three times, and ratified this the 9th
day of February, A. D. 1901.
PREFACE.
As many of the public schools are not in session as early as October
12th, I have taken the liberty allowed under the law of fixing the date
of North Carolina Day this year and hereafter on the last Friday before
Christmas. It is earnestly desired that all the public schools of the
State shall engage in this celebration on the same day. This pamphlet
has been prepared and sent out to aid busy teachers in the proper cele-bration
of the day and to leave no excuse for failing to celebrate it.
The consecration of at least one day in the year to the public consid-eration
of the history of the State in the public schools, as directed by
the act of the General . Assembly printed on the preceding page,
is a beautiful idea. It is the duty of every public school teacher
to obey the letter of this law. It will, I know, be the pleasure of every
patriotic teacher to obey the spirit of it by using the opportunity of
North Carolina Day to inspire the children with a new pride in their
State, a new enthusiasm for the study of her history, and a new love
of her and her people.
Following the chronological order of the State's history, the subjects
of the North Carolina Day programs have been as follows: In 1901;
The first Anglo-Saxon Settlement in America; in 1902, The Albemarle
Section; in 1903, The Lower Cape Fear Section; in 1904, The Pamlico
Section; in 1905, The Upper Cape Fear Section; in 1907, The Scotch-
Irish Settlements in North Carolina ; in 1908, The German Settlements.
In 1906 it was deemed proper to turn aside from this adopted plan of
chronological study to devote the day to the study of the life, character
and splendid service of Dr. Charles D. Mclver. In 1909 the Moun-tainous
Section formed the subject of study. Thus the history of every
section of the State has been studied, somewhat in the order of their
settlement and development, and the entire period of the State's history
has been covered. It is hoped this year to stimulate a study of local
and county history and the biographies of the State's eminent sons.
These programs have been arranged with a view of giving the chil-I
dren of the rising generation a knowledge of the history of the re-
1
sources, manners, customs and ways of making a living of the different!
sections of the State. It is hoped in this way to awaken a proper pride!
in the history of the State, to inspire a proper confidence in its presents
and hope in its future, and to give the people of the different sections!
of the State a better acquaintance with each other.
This pamphlet was prepared, at my request, by Mr. R. D. W. Connorji
Secretary of the North Carolina Historical Commission.
Very truly yours,
J. Y. JoYNER,
Superintendent of Public Instruction.
Raleigh, N. C, October 1, 1911.
TO THE TEACHER.
The State Superintendent of Public Instruction has decided that
North Carolina Day this year will be used to stimulate an interest in
local history—that is to say the history of the county, the town, the
rural community, the school. This means, of course, that no two coun-ties
will have the same program, indeed, no two schools in the same
county, or even in the same township will have precisely similar pro-grams.
It is accordingly impossible in such a pamphlet as this to do
more than give very general suggestions, which each school must adapt
to its own needs.
Such a program will require much more original work on the part
of pupils and teachers than the former ones. They must decide for
themselves what topics will be presented, must collect their own data,
and, with such exceptions as the songs and recitations included in this
pamphlet, must prepare their own numbers. Perhaps this will seem
difficult at first. Yery well ; so much the better. The pupils will appre-ciate
the results of their work more. But as they proceed difficulties
will be cleared out of the way; much more data will be gathered than
at first will be supposed possible. As this work is done from year to
year the data will finally be available for a real history of the county;
and nothing in historical work is more needed in North Carolina than
good local histories.
Never mind about the work being crude and immature. In spite of
crudeness and immaturity it will be worth infinitely more to the pupils
who do it than the study of books written by others can ever be. It
will give them at first hand some idea of what real study of history is,,
it will be their own, it will stimulate an interest in the county, in the
school, and in the State, and this is just what North Carolina Day is
intended to do. R. D. W. Connok.
October 15, 1911.
THE OLD NORTH STATE.
BY WILLIAM GASTON.
Carolina! Carolina! Heaven's blessings attend her!
While we live we will cherish, protect and defend her;
Though the scorner may sneer at and witlings defame her,
Our hearts swell with gladness whenever we name her.
Hurrah! Hurrah! the Old North State forever!
Hurrah! Hurrah! the good Old North State!
Though she envies not others their merited glory,
Say, whose name stands the foremost in Liberty's story?
Though too true to herself e'er to crouch to oppression,
Who can yield to just rule more loyal submission?
Hurrah, etc. '
Plain and artless her sons, but whose doors open faster
At the knock of a stranger, or the tale of disaster?
How like to the rudeness of their dear native mountains,
With rich ore in their bosoms and life in their fountains.
Hurrah, etc.
And her daughters, the Queen of the Forest resembling
—
So graceful, so constant, yet to gentlest breath trembling;
And true lightwood at heart, let the match be applied them,
How they kindle and flame! O! none know but who've tried them.
Hurrah, etc.
Then let all who love us, love the land that we live in
(As happy a region as on this side of Heaven),
Where Plenty and Freedom, Love and Peace smile before us,
Raise aloud, raise together the heart-thrilling chorus!
Hurrah! Hurrah! the Old North State forever!
Hurrah! Hurrah! the good Old North State!
THE OLD NORTH STATE.
BY CHARLES B. AYCOCK.
A DECLAMATION.
(From an address delivered at the First North Carolina Reunion at Greensboro, October 12, 1903.)
In North Carolina liberty had its birth, and here it rejoices in its
fullest beauty. North Carolina was settled by men who found the
liberty of other Colonies and States short of their desires. English,
Virginians, French, New Englanders, Swiss, Germans, Scotch, Irish,
Huguenots, of whatever nationality they might be, they sought this
land in order that they might found a State which should be a fit home
for "the freest of the free." *******
When she had won her independence, North Carolina set such store
by it that she declined to join the American Union until the sover-eignty
of the State and the liberty of the individual had been provided
for by the proposal of the first ten amendments to the Constitution of
the United States. But, once in the Union, this State loved it. The
government was one of our own formation, and our people have ever
been willing to yield obedience to the laws of their own enactment.
Even when the people thought the Constitution had been violated, and
their rights infringed, their love for the Union was so great that with
singular unanimity they determined to remain in it, and secure, if
possible, under the Stars and Stripes, that protection to which they
felt themselves entitled. But when the other Southern States went out
of the Union, and we were brought face to face with the necessity of
taking sides, then our people in convention assembled, without a single
dissenting vote, went out of the Union, and sought at every c6st to
secure again that independence which our fathers had won. Late in
going out, this State offered the first life on the altar of the Southern
Confederacy. Having made up her mind to fight for independence,
she sent to the front more soldiers than there were voters within her
borders. She lost more men in killed and wounded than any other
Southern State; charged farthest at Gettysburg; laid down the greatest
number of guns at Appomattox, and quit the fight with as deep regret
as any of her sisters. I care not on which side one fought in that
great contest ; the achievements of North Carolina soldiers were too
great to excite bitterness in any breast that loves heroic sacrifice and
daring deeds. Her men won for humanity a still higher place for stub-born
courage than had theretofore been gained. They went into the
j fight reluctantly, because of their deep love for the Union which their
1 fathers had cemented with their blood. They went to the front well
| clothed, well fed, in high spirits, certain of success. They left at the
! end in tatters and rags, footsore and hungry, but their tears watered
i the ground where the greatest leader of soldiers, the highest type of
I Christian manhood, the purest and truest and the best of men, General
; Robert E. Lee, surrendered his sword. They came back to the State
; weary, worn and sorrowful. They found the population depleted.
I Their farms had gone to ruin, their fences were down, their ditches
8
were filled, their stock were slaughtered, in too many instances their
houses were burned. But they did not sit down in the desolation of
their despair. With a courage worthy of the great men who fought
during the Revolution, they turned their faces to the morning, put
their trust in God, and resolutely determined to build again their homes
and do honor to their mother for whom they had suffered so much.
And right well have they wrought. Today our fields abound with
harvest. From the mountains to the seashore there is abundance. There
is not, from Hatteras to Murphy, from Virginia to South Carolina,
a man, woman or child who is hungry today. North Carolina and
South Carolina manufacture sixty per cent of all the cotton manu-factured
in the South, and of this sixty per cent this State claims
over half. Our furniture factories, giving employment to thousands
of skilled laborers, sell their furniture in Grand Rapids, and take trib-ute
to their superior workmanship from every State in the Union. The
census shows that we more than doubled our investments in manufac-tures
in the last decade. We grow more cotton on less acreage than
ever before, while our tobacco crop in value exceeds that of any State
in the Union. Our vegetable gardens have grown into fields, and we
feed the crowding multitudes of the Eastern cities. In every depart-ment
of human activity your brothers here are forging to the front.
We stand in the morning, with our faces to the light, and gladly hear
the command that "we go forward." *******
In your travels you may have run across "the scorners who scoff
at and the witlings who defame" this State. You may have heard that
she is ignorant and provincial, but I tell you there can be found no-where
within her borders a man ignorant enough to join with the
fool in saying, "There is no God." There is no man amongst us whose
hand is so untrained that it does not instinctively seek his hat in the
presence of a woman. There is no ear so untaught that it does not
hear the cry of pity; and no heart so untutored that it does not beat
in sympathy with the weak and the distressed. Illiterate we have been
but ignorant, never. Books we have not known; but of men we have
learned, and of God we have sought to find out. "A gentle people
and open"; frank and courteous, passionate when aroused, and dan-gerous
in conflict. * * * * I am proud of their history ; prouc
of their character. * * * * If we have done well, it is becaus(
we were taught aright by those who went before us, taught at theii
expense; and credit belongs to them alone. We think we hold on t(
the truths which our fathers taught us. We believe that we still main,
tain a passion for liberty; that we love independence, and set mor<
store by honor than by wealth. * * * *
I greet you, ladies and gentlemen, in the name of our whole people
I extend to you all the liberties of the State, and invoke that piou
benediction of Tiny Tim, "God bless us every one."
OUTLINE FOR A COUNTY HISTORY.
TO THE TEACHER.
The following outline for a county history is intended to be merely
suggestive. In the case of most of the counties a single essay attempt-ing
to cover the entire outline would be much too long, and, besides,
the placing of such a task upon a single pupil would be too great a
burden. In such cases it is suggested that each of the seven main divi-sions
(indicated by Roman numerals) will form in itself a sufficient
topic for a single essay.
On the other hand, in many of the newer counties (counties without
Colonial or Revolutionary history, and others even without ante-bellum
or Civil War history, except in connection with the mother county),
a single essay may cover the entire history of the county without being
too long.
An interesting feature can be introduced by having some pupil read
the Act of the General Assembly creating the county. A copy can be
easily made from the Public Laws.
Much interesting history is involved in the names of the counties.
But frequently this history bears such remote connection with the his-tory
of North Carolina (as, for instance, in such cases as Columbus,
Anson, Bladen, Clay, Montgomery, New Hanover, Randolph, etc., etc.)
that it should form a very subordinate part in the program, a mere
mention of the origin of the county's name being all that is necessary.
See, for instance, Outline, III, 3.
On the other hand many counties bear the names of men who figured
largely in the history of North Carolina,—Davie, Graham, Macon,
Vance, Wilson, Harnett, Hoke, and others. In such cases it will be
well to have essays on their lives and careers take principal places on
the programs, thus giving general interest as well as local application
to the programs.
The same purpose can be accomplished in counties which have given
distinguished leaders, in civil, military, educational, agricultural, re-ligious,
commercial, or industrial affairs,—such, for instance, as Vance
in civil life; Howe in military; Charles D. Mclver or Braxton Craven
jin educational ; Edwin Holt in industrial affairs, etc., etc., by having
essays on the lives of such men form principal parts of the programs.
As an aid in such cases, a list of the members of the Continental Con-gress,
the governors of North Carolina (since 1776), the chief justices,
the speakers of the two houses of the General Assembly, and the United
States and Confederate States senators, with the counties in which they
ived at the time of their election, is included in this pamphlet. In
lot a few cases brief sketches of men prominent in their own counties
; >an be found in this pamphlet under the counties which bear their
lames ; for instance, Orange County claims among its citizens William
i. Graham and Thomas Burke; the Orange County pupil can find
ketches of these men under Graham and Burke Counties. Buncombe
laims Vance and Swain, sketches of whom can be found by the Bun-
10
combe pupil under the counties bearing those names. There are many
other similar cases.
OUTLINE
I. Geographical Features.
1. Size and location.
2. Surface.
3. Principal streams, sounds, lakes, etc.
4. Character of the soil.
5. Mora and fauna.
6. Other geographical features.
7. Influence of geography on the history and develop-ment
of the county.
II. Populat ion.
1. Racial elements
(a) English.
(b) French.
(c) Irish.
(d) German.
(e) Scotch.
(f ) Scotch-Irish.
(g) Negro.
2. Where they came from.
3. Reasons for their settling in North Carolina
(a) Social.
(b) Economic.
(c) Political.
(d) Religious.
4. Character of the people.
III. Organization of the county.
1. When and why created.
2. Boundaries:
(a) Territory from which the county was formed.
(b) Original boundaries.
(c) Counties wholly or partially cut off from it.
(d) Present boundaries.
3. Origin of its name.
4. Selection of the county seat
(a) Why selected.
(b) Origin of its name.
(c) Erection of public buildings.
IV. Important Historic Events.
1. During the Colonial Period
(a) Early relations with the Indians.
(b) Military events.
(c) Chief political occurrences.
11
(d) Industrial conditions
1. Labor; introduction of slavery.
2. Agriculture.
3. Commerce.
4. Home manufactures.
(e) Early schools.
(f) Early churches.
(g) Early newspapers and libraries,
(h) Colonial towns.
2. During the Revolution
(a) Whigs and Tories.
(b) Political events.
(c) Military events:
1. Soldiers furnished the British Army.
2. Soldiers furnished the American Army.
3. Battles.
(d) Monuments, markers, or other memorials.
3. During the period of National Development, 1783-1860
(a) Increase of wealth and population.
(b) Founding and growth of towns.
(c) Schools—private and public; noted teachers.
(d) Newspapers.
(e) Religious conditions—churches, noted preach-ers,
famous religious meetings, etc.
(f) Internal Improvements:
1. Deepening of rivers.
2. Digging of canals.
3. Road building.
4. Railroads.
(g) Industrial conditions
1. Agriculture.
2. Commerce.
3. Manufactures,
(h) Military events:
1. War of 1812.
2. War with Mexico.
(i) Political events.
V. Secession and the Civil War, 1861-1865.
1. Sentiment of the people on secession.
2. Secession campaign of 1861.
3. Soldiers furnished to the Confederacy.
4. Battles.
5. Monuments.
VI. Reconstruction, 1865-1876.
1. Carpet baggers
(a) Where they came from.
(b) Character.
(c) What they did.
(d) Results of their control.
12
2. Ku Klux Klan
(a) Number of dens in the county and locations.
(b) Leaders and membership of each.
(c) What the Ku Klux Klan did.
(d) Results of their activities.
3. The Negroes and Reconstruction
(a) Relation between the whites and negroes be-fore
the Civil War.
(b) Influence of the carpet baggers on the negroes.
(c) Disturbances between the whites and negroes.
(d) Results.
VII. Since Reconstruction, 1876-1911.
1. Important political events.
2. Erection of public buildings.
3. Development of the public school system.
4. Road building.
5. Railroads.
6. Commerce.
7. Manufactures.
8. Agriculture.
9. Increase in population and wealth
(a) Population in 1880:
1. Urban.
2. Rural.
(b) Population in 1910:
1. Urban.
2. Rural.
(a) Wealth in 1880:
1. Urban.
2. Rural.
(b) Wealth in 1910:
1. Urban.
2. Rural.
(c) Causes of increase.
GENERAL REFERENCE BOOKS.
(Note.—Under many of the counties will be found a list of special references. The following ab-breviations
are used: NCBook. for 'North Carolina Booklet"; NCProg. for " North Carolina Day
Program. ")
1. North Carolina Day Program. In the issues of previous years
will be found considerable local history material relating to
the counties in the various sections of the State, as follows:
1901 : The Koanoke Island Settlements.
1902: The Albemarle Section.
1903 : The Lower Cape Fear Section.
1904: The Pamlico and Neuse Sections.
1905 : The Scotch-Highlander Settlements, or Upper
Cape Fear Section.
1907: The Scotch-Irish Settlements.
1908: The German Settlements.
1909: Western North Carolina.
2. Wheeler: History of North Carolina. (In this work will
be found brief histories of each county in existence as late
as 1851.)
3. Wheeler: Eeminiscences of North Carolina. (This work con-tains
brief county histories as late as 1884.)
4. Creecy: Grandfather's Tales of North Carolina.
5. Foote: Historical Sketches of North Carolina.
6. Hunter : Sketches of Western North Carolina.
7. Board of Agriculture : North Carolina and Its Resources. Pub-lished
in 1896 by the State Board of Agriculture. Contains
description of each county.
8. Battle: History in the Names of the Counties of North Caro-lina.
NCBook, Vol. VI, No. 1.
9. Laws of North Carolina. (Bound volumes of the laws can be
found in the courthouse.)
10. Files of the county newspapers.
11. Personal recollections of people familiar with the history of the
county.
INDIAN NAMES.
ADAPTED BY MRS. C. P. SPENCER FROM K. P. BATTLE.
(This poem is suitable for use in any county touched by the Swan-nanoa,
the Nantahala, the Yadkin, the Roanoke, or Catawba River.
It will make an interesting exercise to have pupils make a list of all
places, rivers, mountains, etc., in their counties bearing Indian names,
and if possible ascertain their meaning.)
Ye say they all have passed away,
The race of Indian braves;
That their light canoes have vanished
From off our crested waves;
That 'mid the forests where they roamed
There rings no hunter's shout;
Yet their names are on our waters:
Ye can not wash them out.
Their memory liveth on our hills,
Their baptism on our shore;
Our everlasting rivers speak
Their dialect of yore.
'Tis heard where Swannanoa pours
Its crystal tide along;
It sounds on Nantahala's shores,
And Yadkin swells the song;
Where'er the lordly Roanoke sweeps
The Indian name remains;
And swift Catawba proudly keeps
The echo of its strains.
HISTORY IN NAMES OF COUNTIES OF NORTH CAROLINA.
(Note.—First is given the name of the county, then the date of its formation, then the county or
counties from which it was formed, then the origin of its name.)
Alamance.—1§19. Orange. The name is derived from Alamance
Creek, on the banks of which was fought, May 16, 1771, the Bat-tle
of Alamance, between the Regulators and the Colonial militia
under Governor Tryon. It is the name of an Indian tribe that
formerly dwelt in that section. The early history of Alamance is
connected with Orange County.
County seat. Graham. William A. Graham. (See Graham
County.)
ALAMANCE.
BY SEYMOUR D. WHITING.
No stately column* marks the hallowed place
Where silent sleeps, unurn'd, their sacred dust
—
The first free martyrs of a glorious race,
Their fame a people's wealth, a Nation's trust.
Above their rest the golden harvest waves,
The glorious stars stand sentinel on high;
While in sad requiem near their turfless graves,
The winding river murmurs mourning by.
No stern ambition nerved them to the deed,
In Freedom's cause they nobly dared to die;
The first to conquer, or the first to bleed,
God, and their country's right, their battle-cry.
But holier watchers here their vigils keep,
Than storied urn or monumental stone;
For Law and Justice guard their dreamless sleep,
And plenty smiles above their bloody home.
Immortal youth shall crown their deathless fame,
And, as their country's glories still advance,
Shall brighter blaze o'er all the earth thy name,
Thou first-fought field of Freedom—Alamance.
References
:
Stockard: History of Alamance County.
McCorkle: Was Alamance the first battle of the Revolution?
N. C. Book III. 7.
The Origin of Alamance County. N. C. Prog. 1908.
Alexandek.—1847. Iredell, Caldwell, and Wilkes. William J. Alex-ander,
of Mecklenburg County. Born in Salisbury, March, 1767
graduated from the University of North Carolina, 1816 ; admitted
to the bar, 1818; member of the General Assembly, 1826, 1827,
1828, 1829, 1830. Speaker of the House of Commons, 1828.
Elected solicitor, 1830.
County seat. Taylorsville. John Louis Taylor, first Chief Jus-tice
of the Supreme Court of North Carolina, 1818-1829.
^ince this poem was written a monument has been erected on the battlefield of Alamance.
16
Alleghany.—1859. Ashe. Alleghany is an Indian name. The mean-ing
is unknown.
Reference:
The Origin of Alleghany County. N. C. Prog. 1909.
Anson.—1749. Bladen. George, Lord Anson, a celebrated English
admiral who circumnavigated the globe. He lived for awhile
on the Pedee in South Carolina. In 1761 he was given the honor
of bringing to her marriage with King George III., Charlotte,
Princess of Mecklenburg, for whom Mecklenburg County was
named. In 1749 he was at the height of his fame and popularity.
County seat. Wadesboro. Colonel Thomas Wade, Revolution-ary
soldier. Delegate for Anson County in Provincial Congress,
August, 1775, and November, 1776. Colonel of Minute Men of
Salisbury District, 1775.
Ashe.—1799. Prom "that portion of Wilkes lying west of the extreme
height of the Appalachian Mountains." Named in honor of Sam-uel
Ashe, of New Hanover County. Born in 1725. Educated at
Harvard College, Mass. Studied law and settled at Wilmington.
A member of the Committee of Safety at Wilmington. President
of Council of Safety, 1776. Member Provincial Congress, August,
1775, April, 1776, November, 1776. Helped to frame the Consti-tution
of North Carolina, 1776. Judge of the Superior Court,
1777 to 1795. Governor, 1795-1797. The city of Asheville also
bears his name. Died in 1813.
County seat. Jefferson. Thomas Jefferson, author of the
Declaration of Independence and President of the United States.
Reference:
The Origin of Ashe County. N. C. Prog. 1909.
Avery.—1911. Mitchell, Watauga, and Caldwell. Colonel Waightstill
Avery "of Revolutionary fame." Born in Connecticut, May 10,
1741. Came to Charlotte, N. C, 1769. Member of Provincial
Congress, August, 1775, and November, 1776. Member General
Assembly for Mecklenburg County, 1777. Attorney-General of
North Carolina, 1777-1779. Moved to Burke County, 1781. Rep-resented
Burke in Assembly, 1782 to 1785, 1793, and in State
Senate, 1796. Died, 1821. The history of Avery County prior to
1911 is connected with the counties from which it was formed.
From the leading actors in the matter, pupils can get the history
of the movement to create the county, and long fight for it before
the Legislature.
County seat. Newland. William C. Newland, of Caldwell
County, Lieutenant-Governor of North Carolina, 1909-1912.
Beaufort.—1705. Bath. Bath County was formed in 1696 out of
territory bordering on Pamlico Sound and extending southward
to the Cape Fear River. It was at first divided into "precincts"
which in 1738 became "counties." Beaufort County was named
for Henry, Duke of Beaufort, one of the lords proprietors of Caro-lina.
He purchased the share of the Duke of Albemarle.
County seat. Washington. George Washington.
17
References
:
Peele: Bath and Pamlico. N. C. Prog. 1904.
Rodman: Washington and its Early Inhabitants. N. C. Prog. 1904.
Bertie.—1722. Bath. James and Henry Bertie, lords proprietors,
who in 1728 owned the share of Lord Clarendon.
Bladen.—1734. Bath. Martin Bladen, an English politician, who
was one of the members of the Board of Trade which had charge
of colonial affairs.
References
Ellet: The Midnight Ride of Mary Slocum. N. C. Prog. 1903.
The Lower Cape Fear Section. N. C. Prog. 1903.
McKoy: Incidents of the early and permanent settlement of the
Cape Fear. N. C. Book. Vol. VII, No. 3.
Brunswick.—1764. New Hanover and Bladen. House of Brunswick
of which the four Georges Kings of England were members.
References :
Bellamy: General Robert Howe. N. C. Book. Vol. VII, No. 3.
The Lower Cape Fear Section. N. C. Prog. 1903.
McKoy: Incidents of the early and permanent settlement of the
Cape Fear. N. C. Book. Vol. VII, No. 3.
Buncombe.—1791. Burke and Rutherford. At first it embraced all
the territory west of the Blue Ridge, and was so large that it was
nicknamed the "State of Buncombe." Named for Colonel Edward
Buncombe, a soldier of the Revolution. Born in the West Indies,
1742. Educated in England. Came to Tyrrell County, K C,
1768. Built "Buncombe Hall," a residence noted for its hospital-ity.
Over the door he wrote
"To Buncombe Hall
Welcome all."
During the Revolution he took the side of the Americans. Ap-pointed
Colonel of the Eifth North Carolina Regiment of Conti-nentals,
1776; ordered to Charleston, S. C, to defend that city
against the British. Joined Washington's Army in the north,
1777; was at the battles of Brandywine, Sept. 11, 1777, German-town,
Oct. 4, 1777. At Germantown was badly wounded. Died
in May, 1778.
County seat. Asheville. Governor Samuel Ashe. (See Ashe
County.)
RACING WATER.*
BY MARY BAYARD CLARKE.
Racing Water, who can paint thee,
With thy scenery wild and grand?
It would take a magic pencil
Guided by a master hand.
Here are towering, rugged mountains,
Granite rocks all scarred and gray,
Nature's altars whence her incense
Floats in wreaths of mist away.
*The name of the French Broad river in the Cherokee language was "Tah-kee-os-tee," signify-ing
"racing water."
18
At thy feet the murmuring waters
Now are singing songs of praise,
Or in sonorous notes triumphant
A majestic pean raise.
Down the canyon's rocky gorges
Now they wildly, madly sweep,
As, with laughing shout exultant,
O'er the rocks they joyous leap.
Then in calm and limpid beauty
Still and deep they silent flow,
With the verdant banks o'erhanging
Pictured in the depths below.
Pulsing from the heart of Nature,
Here thy "Hot Spring's" genial gush,
There, like stream from Alpine glacier,
Down the mountains coldly rush.
Tah-kee-os-tee—Racing Water
—
Was thy sonorous Indian name,
But as "French Broad" thou art written
On the white man's roll of fame.
Perish that—but live the other!
For on every dancing wave
Evermore is shown the beauty
Of the name the red man gave.
References:
Vance: David L. Swain. N. C. Prog. 1909.
Connor: Zebulon Baird Vance. N. C. Prog. 1909.
The Origin of Buncombe County. N. C. Prog. 1909.
Burke.—1777. Rowan. Thomas Burke, Revolutionary statesman.
Born at Galway, Ireland, about 1747 ; received a liberal education
studied medicine and in 1764, went to Accomac County, Ya., and
commenced practice ; studied law, and moved to Norfolk, where he
practiced; moved to Hillsboro, N". 0., in 1774; delegate to Provin-cial
Congress, April, 1775, August, 1775, April, 1776, November,
1776. Delegate to the Continental Congress, December, 1776, to
July, 1781. Governor of North Carolina, from June, 1781, to
April, 1782 ; was kidnapped by the Tories September 13, 1781, and
carried to Charleston, S. C. ; escaped and resumed his duties as
Governor; defeated for reelection in April, 1782. Died at Hills-boro,
N. C, December 2, 1783.
County seat. Morganton. Gen. Daniel Morgan, Revolutionary
soldier; victor at the Battle of Cowpens, January 17, 1781.
Reference:
The Origin of Burke County. N. C. Prog. 1908.
Cabarrus.—1792. Mecklenburg. Stephen Cabarrus, of Chowan
County. Born 1754 in France; came to America early in life and
settled at Edenton. Elected to the Legislature seventeen times,
1783-1787, 1788-1793, 1795, 1799-1805. Speaker of the House of
Commons eight times, 1789-1792, 1800-1805. Member of State
Constitutional Convention, 1788 ; member Board of Trustees of
19
University of North Carolina, 1789-1792 ; one of the commission-ers
to locate the State Capital, 1792. Died August 4, 1808.
County seat. Concord. Tradition declares that two factions in
the county were disputing over the location of the county seat, hut
finally settled the trouble by selecting the present site, calling it
"Concord," (peace).
References:
The Origin of Cabarrus County. N. C. Prog. 1908.
Caldwell.—1841. Burke and Wilkes. Dr. Joseph Caldwell, the first
president of the University of North Carolina. Born in New
Jersey, 1773 ; graduated from Princeton University, 1791 ; ap-pointed
teacher in Princeton University, 1795; Professor of
Mathematics, University of North Carolina, 1796; elected Presi-dent
of the University, 1806. In 1811 he made a successful tour
of the State to collect funds for the University. In 1824 he was
sent to Europe to purchase books for the University Library and
other equipment. In 1827 delivered an address before the Legis-lature
on railroads, then a new subject. He advocated a railroad
through the center of the State from Morehead City to the Ten-nessee
line; was a strong advocate of public schools and internal
improvements. Remained at the University until his death, Jan-uary
27, 1835.
County seat. Lenoir. Gen. William Lenoir. (See Lenoir
County.)
Camden.—1777. Pasquotank. Charles Pratt, Earl of Camden, a Brit-ish
statesman, one of the strongest friends of the Americans in
the British Parliament. He took their side in the dispute over
"taxation without representation."
Carteret.—1722. Bath. Sir John Carteret, afterwards Earl Gran-ville,
one of the lords proprietors. When the other lords proprie-tors
sold their shares to the king in 1728, Carteret refused to sell,
and an immense tract of land in North Carolina was laid off as
his share in 1744. It was called the Granville District and was
the cause of a great deal of trouble. He lost it when the Revolu-tion
freed North Carolina from British rule.
County seat. Beaufort. Henry, Duke of Beaufort. (See Beau-fort
County.)
Caswell.—1777. Orange. Richard Caswell, Revolutionary soldier
and statesman. Born in Maryland, August 3, 1729 ; received a lib-eral
education; in 1746 moved to North Carolina; member of
General Assembly, 1754-1775 ; speaker, 1770-1771 ; commanded the
right wing of the Colonial Militia under Gov. Tryon at Battle of
Alamance, May 16, 1771 ; served in the Revolutionary Army
commanded the American forces at Battle of Moore's Creek
Bridge, February 27, 1776. Delegate from North Carolina to the
Continental Congress, 1774-1776 ; delegate to the State Constitu-tional
Convention, November, 1776, and its president; Governor
of North Carolina, 1777-1780; commanded the North Carolina
20
troops at the Battle of Camden, 1780; speaker of the Senate of
North Carolina, 1782-1784; Governor of North Carolina, 1785-
1787; elected a delegate from North Carolina to the convention
which framed the Federal Constitution, 1787, but declined ; State
Senator, 1789. Died November 20, 1789.
County seat. Yanceyville. Bartlett Yancey. (See Yancey
County.)
Catawba.—1842. Lincoln. Named after a tribe of Indians which
dwelt in that section of the State.
Reference:
The Origin of Catawba County. N. C. Prog. 1908.
Chatham.—1770. Orange.^ Named in honor of the great Englishman
who won for England all of French America and was the most
eloquent defender of the American cause in the British Parliament
during the Revolution—William Pitt, Earl of Chatham.
County seat. Pittsboro. William Pitt.
Cherokee.—1839. Macon. An Indian tribe which still dwells in that
section of the State. It is the most western county in the State.
When we say "From Currituck to Cherokee" we mean the whole
of North Carolina. Another expression meaning the same thing
is "From Murphy to Manteo." (Murphy, the county seat of
Cherokee, is in the extreme west; Manteo, the county seat of Dare.
is in the extreme east.)
County seat. Murphy. Archibald D. Murphey. Born in Cas-well
County, 1777; educated at the University of North Carolina;
studied law, and settled at Hillsboro. State Senator from Orange
County, 1812-1818. Judge of the Superior Court, 1818-1820. His
greatest service was in interest of public education. He suggested
a plan for public schools that has earned for him the title of
"Father of the Public Schools." Died in 1832.
References
:
The Origin of Cherokee County. N. C. Prog. 1909.
Connor: Cherokee Indians in the Revolution. N. C. Prog. 1909.
Stringfield: The North Carolina Cherokee Indians. N. C. Book.
Vol. Ill, No. 2. Also Vol. IV, No. 8.
Chowan.—1672. Albemarle. Albemarle County was the first county
in North Carolina. It was divided into "precincts," which in
1738 became "counties," and "Albemarle County" disappeared
from the map. For a long time the governors of North Carolina
were called "Governors of Albemarle." Chowan County was
named for a tribe of Indians who dwelt in the northeastern part
of the State when the English first came to North Carolina.
County seat. Edenton. Charles Eden, Governor of North Caro-lina,
1714-1722.
References:
Sikes: Joseph Hewes. N. C. Book. Vol. IV, No. 5.
Connor: Joseph Hewes and the Declaration of Independence. N. C.
Book. Vol. X, No. 3.
Stone: Edenton. N. C. Prog. 1902.
21
Dillard: 'St. Paul's Church, Edenton, and its Associations. N. C.
Book. Vol. V, No. 1.
Dillard: The Historic Edenton Tea-Party. N. C. Book. Vol. I, No. 4.
Drane: The Expedition Against the Row Galley, "General Arnold,"
a side-light on Colonial Edenton. N. C. Book. Vol. VII, No. 4.
Davis: James Iredell. N. C. Prog. 1902.
Nash: The Borough Towns of North Carolina (Edenton). N. C.
Book. Vol. VI, No. 2.
Clay.—1861. Cherokee. Henry Clay, an American statesman. Born
in Virginia, April 12, 1777. Studied law and moved to Lexington,
Ky. Member of Legislature of Kentucky, 1803, 1808-1809. Uni-ted
States Senator, 1806-1807 and 1810-1811. Representative in
Congress, and Speaker, 1811-1814. Resigned, 1814. Again Repre-sentative
in Congress, and Speaker, 1815-1820. Resigned, 1820.
Again representative in Congress, 1821-1825, and Speaker, 1821-
1823. Secretary of State, in Cabinet of President John Quincy
Adams, 1825-1829. Again United States Senator, 1831-1842, and
1849-1852. He was twice defeated for the Presidency, each time
by a North Carolinian, in 1832 by Andrew Jackson, and in 1844
by James K. Polk. He was one of the most eloquent of American
orators. He died in Washington in 1852 while a member of the
United States Senate.
Reference
:
The Origin of Clay County. N. C. Prog. 1909.
Cleveland.—1841. Rutherford and Lincoln. Colonel Benjamin
Cleveland. Born in Virginia, May 26, 1738. Came to North
Carolina about 1769, in what is now Wilkes County. Famous as
leader on the frontier and as Indian fighter. Appointed Ensign
in North Carolina Continental Line, 1775; Lieutenant, 1776. Re-signed
and was appointed Colonel of Militia of Wilkes County,
1778. Representative in House of Commons, 1778 ; State Senator,
1779. Constantly engaged in warfare against Indians and Tories.
In 1780 led his regiment against the British and Tories under
Ferguson, bore an important part in Battle of King's Mountain,
October 7, 1780. After the Revolution moved to South Carolina,
where he died, October, 1806.
County seat. Shelby. Isaac Shelby, one of the "Heroes of
King's Mountain"; Governor of Kentucky.
BATTLE OP KING'S MOUNTAIN.
'Twas on a pleasant mountain the Tory heathens lay,
With a doughty Major at their head, one Ferguson, they say;
Cornwallis had detach'd him a thieving for to go,
And catch the Carolina men, or lay the rebels low.
The scamp had rang'd the country in search of royal aid,
And with his owls perch'd on high, he taught them all his trade.
But, ah! that fatal morning, when Shelby brave drew near,
'Tis certainly a warning that Government should hear,
And Campbell brave, and Cleveland, and Colonel John Sevier,
Each with a band of gallant men to Ferguson appear.
Just as the sun was setting behind the western hills,
Just then our trusty rifles sent a dose of leaden pills;
4
22
Up, up the steep together brave Williams led his troop,
And join'd by Winston, bold and true, disturbed the Tory coop.
The royal slaves,—the royal owls, flew high on every hand,
But soon they settled—gave a howl, and quarter'd to Cleveland;
I would not tell the number of Tories slain that day,
But surely it is certain that none did run away.
For all that were living were happy to give up,
So let us make thanksgiving, and pass the bright tin cup;
To all our brave regiment, let's toast 'em for their health,
And may our glorious country have joy, and peace and wealth.
References
:
Allen: Battle of King's Mountain. N. C. Prog. 1907.
Connor: King's Mountain Boys. N. C. Prog. 1909.
Connor: Benjamin Cleveland. N. C. Prog. 1909.
Columbus.—1808. Bladen and Brunswick. Christopher Columbus,
discoverer of the New World.
County seat. Whiteville. James B. White, first representative
from Columbus County in the State Senate, 1809 and 1810.
Craven.—1712. Bath. William, Lord Craven, one of the lords pro-prietors
of Carolina.
Cunty seat. New Bern. Bern, capital of Switzerland, whence
came the early settlers of Craven County.
References:
Allen: The German Palatines in North Carolina. N. C. Book. Vol.
IV, No. 12.
Ashe: The Tuscarora War, 1711-15. N. C. Prog. 1904.
Kennedy: Colonial New Bern. N. C. Book. Vol. I, No. 2.
Coon: Early New Bern. N. C. Prog. 1904.
Clark: The Indian Massacre and the Tuscarora War of 1711-13.
N. C. Book, Vol. II, No. 3.
Coon: The Huguenot Settlements and de Graffenried's Colony. N. C.
Prog. 1904.
Nash: The Borough Towns of North Carolina (New Bern). N. C
Book. Vol. VI, No. 2.
Pittman: The Revolutionary Congresses of North Carolina. N. C
Book. Vol. II, No. 6.
Cumberland.—1754. Bladen. William Augustus, Duke of Cumber-land,
second son of King George II. Cumberland was the com
mander of the English army at the battle of Culloden in which the
Scotch Highlanders were so badly defeated. Many of them came
to America, and their principal settlement was at Cross Creek in
Cumberland County.
County seat. Fayetteville. Marquis de La Fayette, the famous
young Frenchman, the friend of Washington, who helped the
Americans win their independence of England.
References:
Connor: La Fayette's Visit to Fayetteville. N. C. Prog. 1905.
McRae: The Fayetteville Independent Light Infantry. N. C. Book
Vol. VII, No. 4.
Connor: Flora MacDonald. N. C. Prog. 1905.
Connor: James C. Dobbin. N. C. Prog. 1905.
Nash: The Borough Towns of North Carolina (Fayetteville)
N. C. Book. Vol. VI, No. 2.
23
The Upper Cape Fear Section. N. C. Prog. 1905.
Connor: The Convention of 1789 and its Centennial Celebration.
N. C. Prog. 1905.
Connor (H. G.) : The Convention of 1788-1789, and the Federal Con-stitution.
Hillsboro and Fayetteville. N. C. Book, Vol. IV, No. 4.
Currituck.—1672. Albemarle. An Indian tribe.
Dare.—1870. Currituck, Tyrrell, and Hyde. Virginia Dare, the first
English child born in America.
County seat. Manteo. The Indian warrior, friend of the whites,
who is supposed to have led the "Lost Colony" to Croatan, his
home.
THE LOST COLONY.
BY MRS. MARGARET J. PRESTON.
The breath of spring was on the sea:
Anon the Governor stepped
His good ship's deck right merrily;
His promise had been kept.
"See, see! the coastline comes in view!"
He heard the mariners shout
—
"We'll drop our anchors in the sound
Before a star is out!" ,
"Now, God be praised," he inly breathed,
"Who saves from all that harms:
Tomorrow morn my pretty ones
Will rest within my arms!"
At dawn of day they moored their ships,
And dared the breakers' roar.
What meant it? Not a man was there
To welcome them ashore!
They sprang to find the cabins rude;
The quick green sedge had thrown
Its knotted web o'er every door
And climbed each chimney-stone.
The spring was choked with winter's leaves,
And feebly gurgled on;
And from the pathway strewn with wrack
All trace of feet was gone.
Their fingers thrid the matted grass,
If there perchance a mound
Unseen might heave the broken turf;
But not a grave was found.
They beat the tangled cypress swamp,
If haply in despair
They might have strayed into its glade,
But found no vestige there.
"The pine! the pine!" the governor groaned;
And there each staring man
Read, in a maze, one single word
Deep carven—CRO-A-TAN!
24
But cut above, no cross, no sign,
No symbol of distress;
Naught else beside that mystic line,
Within the wilderness!
And where and what was "Cro-a-tan"?
But not an answer came,
And none of all who read it there
Had ever heard the name!
"Oh, daughter! daughter! with the thought
My harrowed brain is wild!—
Up with the anchors! I must find
The mother and the child!"
In vain, in vain, their heart-sick search;
No tidings reached them more,
No record save that silent word
Upon that silent shore.
The mystery rests a mystery still,
Unsolved of mortal man;
Sphinx-like, untold, the ages hold
The tale of Cro-a-tan.
Reference:
Winston: The First Settlement on Roanoke Island. N. C. Prog.
1902.
ON HATTERAS BAR.
BY HENRY JEROME STOCKARD.
The night was wild, the breakers churned;
In heaven's vast shone not a star;
Alone the light, mist-haloed, burned
On Hatteras Bar.
Prom out the scabbard of the dark
There flashed a sudden blazing brand,
Which, grasped by some puissant hand,
Was thrust against a shrinking bark
With so dire, deadly, damning might
'Twas broke to fragments dazzling white.
Then denser sunk the lurid air,
And cries blent with the surges' jar,
And, stabbed, the ship clung reeling there
On Hatteras Bar.
The ocean massed its ancient strength,
And hoarser raved the savage gale;
To shreds was rent each helpless sail;
The vessel trembled through its length;
It lurched, and ghost-like, through the gloom
Shivered, vanished to its doom.
The souls that in the sad winds moan,
Where lay at morn that shattered spar!—
That sob where plangent seas intone
On Hatteras Bar.
25
Davidson.—1822. Rowan. William Lee Davidson, a General in the
American Army. Born in Pennsylvania, 1746. Father brought
him to Rowan County, Worth Carolina, 1750. Appointed Major
Fourth W. C. Regiment, Continental Line, 1776. Joined Washing-ton's
Army in Wew Jersey, 1777. Took part in battles of Prince-ton,
Brandywine, Germantown, Monmouth. Promoted for gallan-try
to Lieutenant-Colonel. Returned to Worth Carolina, 1779
active in subduing Tories. Appointed Brigadier-General of Mili-tia
; 1780; resisted invasion of Worth Carolina by British, 1781;
killed at Battle of Cowan's Ford, February 1, 1781. The United
States has erected a monument to him at Guilford Battleground.
County seat. Lexington. From Lexington, Mass., where the
first battle of the American Revolution was fought.
Reference:
The Origin of Davidson County. N. C. Prog. 1908.
Davie.—1836. - Rowan. William Richardson Davie, Governor of
Worth Carolina. Born in England, January 20, 1756. Came to
Waxhaw, S. C, 1763. Graduated from Princeton University,
1776. Took part of Americans in disputes with Great Britain.
Served against British in Wew Jersey, while a student at Prince-ton,
1776. Studied law at Salisbury, W. C, and admitted to the
bar, 1779. Elected Major of Worth Carolina Cavalry, 1779. Ac-tive
in campaign against the British in Worth and South Carolina,
1779-1781. Wounded at Battle of Stono Ferry, S. C, June 20,
1779. Saved American Army from destruction after battle of
Camden, August, 1780. Appointed Colonel of Cavalry, Septem-ber,
1780. Defended Charlotte against Cornwallis, 1780. Ap-pointed
Quartermaster-General of American forces by Gen. Greene,
December, 1780. Equipped Greene's Army. After Revolution
made his home at Halifax, W. C. Member General Assembly,
1786, 1787, 1789, 1791, 1793, 1794, 1796, 1798. Delegate to the
Convention which framed Constitution of United States, 1787.
Delegate to State Conventions of 1788 and 1789. Advocated ratifi-cation
of Federal Constitution by Worth Carolina. Author of act
to found the University of Worth Carolina, 1789 ; laid cornerstone
of University, October 12, 1792. For many years Trustee of Uni-versity.
Governor of Worth Carolina, 1799. Appointed by Wash-ington
Brigadier-General in United States Army, 1796. Appointed
by President John Adams special ambassador to negotiate treaty
between United States and France, 1799-1800. Died in South
Carolina, Wovember 18, 1820. Judge William Gaston said of
him :
aHe was a great man in an age of great men, admired and
loved by the virtuous and the wise."
Reference:
The Origin of Davie County. N. C. Prog. 1908.
Duplin.—1749. Wew Hanover. George Henry, Lord Duplin, an Eng-lish
nobleman.
County seat. Kenansville. James Kenan, Revolutionary leader
delegate to Provincial Congress, August, 1774, August, 1775, Wo-vember,
1776, State Senator, 1777-1783, 1787-1791, 1793.
26
Reference:
Carr: Battle of Rockfish Creek. N. C. Book. Vol. VI, No. 3.
Durham.—1881. Orange and Wake. Named after the town of Dur-ham,
a thriving manufacturing city.
Edgecombe.—1732. Bath. Sir Richard, Baron Edgecombe, an Eng-lish
nobleman, and a lord of the treasury.
Forsyth.—1849. Stokes. Forsyth County was settled by Moravians
from Pennsylvania in 1753. They were Germans who had come
to Pennsylvania in 1738, to preach the gospel to the settlers and
to convert the Indians to Christianity. In 1751 they bought 100,-
000 acres in North Carolina, and called it "Wachovia," from two
German words, "wach,"~ a stream, and "aue," a meadow. In 1753
the first settlers came—twelve unmarried men—and laid off their
first town, Bethebara. Others followed, and in 1759 Bethania was
begun and in 1766, Salem. Forsyth County was named for Benja-min
Forsyth, a soldier of the War of 1812. Born in Stokes County, K C. Entered United States Army, April, 1800. Honorably
discharged, June, 1800. Represented Stokes County in General
Assembly, 1807, 1808. Reentered United States Army, 1809, as
Captain. Took active part in War of 1812, along Canadian fron-tier.
Promoted for gallantry to rank of Major. Stationed as
commander of the post of Ogdensburg, N. Y., 1813. Surprised a
party of British at Morristown, February 6, 1813, captured a large
number of prisoners and arms, without losing a man. British
force of 1,200 men attacked Ogdensburg, February 21, 1813, and
captured it. May 27, 1813, Major Forsyth took part in capture
of Fort George, Canada. Was killed at Battle of Odelltown, ou
the Canadian frontier, June 28, 1814.
County seat. Winston. Col. Joseph Winston, one of the "He-roes
of King's Mountain"; State Senator from Stokes County,
1790, 1791; member of Congress 1793-1795, 1803-1807.
Reference:
Clewell: History of Wachovia in North Carolina.
Fries: History of Forsyth County.
Clewell: Moravian Settlements in North Carolina. N. C. Book.
Vol. II, No. 4.
Connor: The Beginning of Wachovia. N. C. Prog. 1908.
The Origin of Forsyth County. N. C. Prog. 1908.
Franklin.—1779. Bute (now Warren and Franklin). Benjamin
Franklin. Born at Boston, Mass., January 17, 1706 ; received a
public school education; learned the art of printing, and after
working at his trade in Philadelphia and London, established him-self
at Philadelphia; Pennsylvania State printer; postmaster at
Philadelphia; a member of the Provinicial Assembly, 1744-1754;
appointed postmaster-general of the British North American col-onies;
agent of Pennsylvania at London; a Delegate to the Con-tinental
Congress, 1775-76; signed the Declaration of Independ-ence;
sent as diplomatic commissioner to France by the Conti-nental
Congress, 1778-1785; Governor of Pennsylvania, 1785-1788;
a delegate to the convention which framed the Federal Constitu-
27
tion, 1787 ; published "Poor Kichard's Alamanac," several works
on electricity, and numerous political pamphlets; died at Philadel-phia,
April 17, 1790.
Gaston.—1846. Lincoln. William Gaston, an American statesman
and jurist. Born at New Bern, N. C, September 19, 1778 ; attended
Georgetown (D. C.) College; graduated from Princeton College
in 1796; studied law; admitted to the bar in 1798, attaining prom-inence
in the legal profession in the State; State Senator in 1800,
1812, 1818, 1819; member of the House of Commons of North
Carolina, 1808, 1809, 1824, 1827, 1828, 1831, serving in 1808 as
Speaker; a Presidential elector in 1809; a Representative in Con-gress
from 1813 to 1817; Judge of the Supreme Court of North
Carolina, 1834-1844; member of the Constitutional Convention of
1835; declined the nomination to the United States Senate in
1840; died at Raleigh, N. C, January 23, 1844.
Reference:
The Origin of Gaston County. N. C. Prog. 1908.
Gates.—1779. Hertford. General Horatio Gates, who commanded
the American Army at the Battle of Saratoga. At this battle an
entire British Army was captured, but General Gates contributed
nothing to that success. It is regarded as one of the most import-ant
battles in the history of the world. For a time Gates was very
popular, many people thought him a great soldier, and some wished
to remove Washington and put Gates in command of the American
Army. In 1780 he was put in command of the American Army
in the South, and proved to be a foolish, incompetent officer. He
was badly defeated by Lord Cornwallis at Camden, S. C, August
16, 1780. He then retired to his home in Virginia and was heard
of no more.
Graham.—1872. Cherokee. William Alexander Graham, an Ameri-can
statesman. Born in Lincoln County, N. C, Sept. 5, 1804;
received a classical education ; graduated from the University of
North Carolina in 1824; admitted to the bar and began practicing
at Hillsboro; member of the House of Commons of North Caro-lina
1833 to 1840; State Senator, 1854, 1862; United States Sena-tor,
from December 10, 1840, to March 3, 1843 ; Governor of North
Carolina, 1845-1848 ; Secretary of the Navy, July 20, 1850, to
March 7, 1853 ; Whig candidate for Vice-President in 1852 ; Sena-tor
in the Second Confederate Congress, 1864-1865; delegate to
the Philadelphia Union Convention in 1866 ; died at Saratoga
Springs, N. Y., August 11, 1875.
Reference:
The Origin of Graham County. N. C. Prog. 1909.
Connor: William A. Graham. N. C. Prog. 1907.
Geanville.—1746. Edgecombe. Sir John Carteret, Earl Granville,
who owned the Granville District. He was Prime Minister under
King George II., and a very brilliant man.
Reference:
Pittman: John Penn. N. C. Book. Vol. IV, No. 5.
28
Greene.—1799. Glasgow and Craven. Glasgow County was named
in honor of James Glasgow, the first Secretary of State after 1776.
He had been a prominent patriot during the Revolution, but while
Secretary of State was convicted of fraud in issuing land grants
in Tennessee, and his name was expunged from the map. Greene
County was named in honor of General Nathanael Greene, Wash-ington's
"right-hand man." Next to Washington General Greene is
regarded as the greatest soldier of the Revolution. He fought the
Battle of Guilford Court House and saved North Carolina from
the British.
Guilford.—1770. Rowan and Orange. Francis, Earl of Guilford, an
English nobleman, father of Lord North, the chief adviser of
King George III. during the Revolution. After his father's death
Lord North became the Earl of Guilford. A large number of Ger-mans
from Pennsylvania settled in this county. In their covered
wagons they followed the great road from Pennsylvania through
Maryland and Virginia, and selected fertile lands along the banks
of rivers and creeks in what is now Guilford County. Greensboro,
the county seat, was named in honor of the famous American gen-eral,
Nathanael Greene. General Greene fought the great Battle
of Guilford Court House against Lord Cornwallis, not far from
Greensboro. "Greensborough," wrote a traveler in 1849, is "a
thriving, compact village. * * * It is the capital of Guilford
County. * * * Very few of the villages in the interior of
the State appeared to me more like a Northern town than Greens-borough.
The houses are generally good, and the stores give evi-dence
of active trade."
County seat. Greensboro. Gen. Nathanael Greene, who fought
the Battle of Guilford Court House, in Guilford County. (See
Greene County.)
THE BATTLE OP GUILFORD COURTHOUSE.
FROM "CAROLINA," BY JAMES B. SHEPARD.
Hail, old Guilford, hail!
Thy soil is sacred. Thine the battle ground
Where England's strong and haughty hosts grew pale
In victory's presence. Here the brave were crowned
With fame immortal. Here the loudest gale
Of battle sounded, while the blue profound,
Rent with thy shouts of triumph, cleared away,
And poured upon thee Freedom's perfect day.
Here brave Cornwallis led his glittering bands
In pomp and splendor—here the free winds played
With plume and banner—here the loud commands
Of battle thundered, as in strength arrayed
The veteran legions of the eastern lands
Moved to the music which their valor made
On their own heart-strings. Hark! the strife begins,
And the red squadrons come like rushing winds.
29
But Greene is here, and like a lofty rock,
Which rolls aside the tempest's deafening roar,
His hosts are stationed, and he seems to mock
The advancing squadrons. Now the changeful shore
Of the wide sea of battle lessens, and the shock
Of charging legions dyes the field with gore.
But hark! what sound was that which rose and fell
Amid the battle's deep and deadly swell?
'Twas Gunby's battle signal. Who hath swayed
A brighter manner than the one which throws
From off his brow the smoke his rifle made?
And now the strife is hushed, and dread repose
Broods o'er both armies. Britain stands arrayed
In haughty silence, while her humble foes,
Fixing their hopes on Gunby, bend to hear
His long shrill rifles, musical and clear.
A low, deep murmur breaks the silence now,
A thousand eyes are glancing on the sight
Of each loud rifle, and the lofty brow
Of Gunby kindles with a glorious light,
To see his heroes, summoned from the plow,
Advance so firmly to the bloody fight.
The charge is sounded. His brave troops hath won
What gallant Greene so gloriously begun.
Reference:
The Origin of Guilford County. N. C. Prog. 1908.
Halifax.—1758. Edgecombe. George, Earl of Halifax, president of
the Board of Trade, which had control of the colonies before the
Revolution.
Reference:
Nash: The Borough Towns of North Carolina (Halifax). N. C.
Book. Vol. VI, No. 2.
Pittman: The Revolutionary Congresses of North Carolina. N. C.
Book. Vol. II, No. 6.
Harnett.—1855. Cumberland. Cornelius Harnett. Born April 20,
1723, in Chowan County. Father moved to the Cape Fear in
1726. Harnett became a resident of Wilmington, 1750. Alder-man
of Wilmington for eleven years. Member General Assembly,
1754 to 1775. One of the leaders of resistance to the Stamp Act,
1765-1766. A leader in the Assembly against "taxation without
representation." Member of Committee of Correspondence, 1773.
Chairman of Wilmington Committee of Safety, 1774-1775 ; Chair-man
of New Hanover County Committee of Safety, 1775; Presi-dent
Provincial Council, 1775-1776 ; President of Council of Safety,
1776; member of Provincial Congress, April, 1775, August, 1775,
April, 1776, November, 1776; author of Halifax Resolution of
April 12, 1776, by which "North Carolina was the first colony to
vote explicit sanction to independence." Member of first Council
of State under independent State government, 1777. Delegate to
Continental Congress, 1777-1780. Captured by the British 1781,
and died from cruel treatment, April 28, 1781. A monument has
been erected to him at Wilmington.
County seat. Lillington. Alexander Lillington, a Revolutionary
30
«»
soldier and one of the commanders of the Americans, with Cas-well
(see Caswell County) at the Battle of Moore's Creek Bridge.
Haywood.—1808. Buncombe. John Haywood. Born in Edgecombe
County, February 23, 1755. Treasurer of North Carolina, 1787
to 1827. He was interested in education; a trustee of the Univer-sity
for thirty-five years ; was a member of the committee that
located the University at Chapel Hill. One of the founders of
the Raleigh Academy, for many years a famous school at Raleigh.
The first mayor of Raleigh, though the office was then called "In-tendant
of Police." Died at Raleigh, November 18, 1827.
County seat. Waynesville. Named for Anthony Wayne. (See
Wayne County.)
References :
Allen: History of Haywood County.
The Origin of Haywood County. N. C. Prog. 1909.
Henderson.—1838. Buncombe. Leonard Henderson, Chief Justice of
North Carolina. Born October 6, 1772, in Granville County.
After receiving a good education he studied law. Judge of the
Superior Court for eight years. Resigned and returned to the
practice of law. At Williamsboro, in Granville County, he estab-lished
the first law school in North Carolina. Judge of the Su-preme
Court, part of time as Chief Justice, 1818-1833. Died August
13, 1833.
County seat. Hendersonville, also named for Chief Justice
Henderson.
Under Buncombe County, page 17, is a poem, "Racing Waters," on the
French Broad river, which is also appropriate for Henderson County.
Hertford.—1759. Chowan, Bertie, and Northampton. Francis Sey-mour
Conway, Earl of Hertford, an English nobleman. He was
a brother of General Conway, a distinguished British soldier and
member of Parliament, who favored the repeal of the stamp act.
The word Hertford is said to mean "Red Eord."
Reference
:
Winborne: History of Hertford County.
Hoke.—1911. Cumberland and Robeson. Robert E. Hoke. Major-
General Confederate States Army. Born in Lincolnton, N. C,
May 27, 1837. Studied military affairs at Kentucky Military
Academy. Became a manufacturer of cotton goods, cotton seed
oil, paper, iron, etc. Lieutenant Company K, First Regiment of
North Carolina troops, called '"Bethel Regiment," 1861. Took
part in Battle of Bethel, June, 1861; praised by commanding offi-cer
"for his great zeal, energy and judgment." Elected Major,
September, 1862; Lieutenant-Colonel, 1862; took part in the great
battles around Richmond, under Johnston and Lee, 1862 ; Colonel
of 21st North Carolina Regiment, 1862; Brigadier-General, 1863;
served under General Lee throughout 1863. Captured Plymouth,
N. C. (then held by United States troops), 1864. President Davis
telegraphed him his promotion to Major-General. Rejoined Lee
in Virginia, and served in the great battles against Grant. Joined
31
Johnston's Army in North Carolina, 1865; bore important part
in Battle of Bentonville, March 19, 1865. Since the War, has
been in private life. He now (1911) lives at Bialeigh. The his-tory
of Hoke County until 1911 is to be found in the histories of
Cumberland and Robeson Counties.
Hyde.—1705. Bath. Called Wickham until about 1712. Named
Hyde in honor of Edward Hyde, Earl of Clarendon, one of the
lords proprietors.
Iredell.—1788. Rowan. James Iredell, of Edenton, one of the fore-most
lawyers of the State. Born in England, October 5, 1751.
Came to Edenton, K C, 1768. Admitted to the bar, 1770. Ap-pointed
by Provincial Congress, 1776, to revise the laws of the
State. Elected Judge, 1777; Attorney-General, 1779-1792. Again
appointed to revise the laws, 1787. Member of the State Consti-tutional
Conventions, 1788, 1789. Leader of the advocates of
adopting the new Federal Constitution. His able speeches for the
Constitution attracted the attention of President Washington who
appointed him, 1790, a Judge of the Supreme Court of the United
States. Served until his death, October 20, 1799.
References
:
The Origin of Iredell County. N. C. Prog. 1908.
Davis: James Iredell. N. C. Prog. 1902.
Jackson.—1851. Haywood and Macon. Andrew Jackson, President-of
the United States. Born in the Waxhaw settlement N. C,
March 15, 1767; early education limited; during the Revolution
captured by the British and brutally struck by an officer whose
boots he refused to clean ; left destitute by the death of his mother
studied law at Salisbury, JST. C. ; appointed Solicitor of the West-ern
District of North Carolina, now the State of Tennessee, 1788
delegate to the convention in 1796 to frame a constitution for
Tennessee; a Representative in Congress from Tennessee from
1796 to 1797; United States Senator, 1797-1798; Judge of the
Supreme Court of Tennessee, 1798-1804; served in the Creek War
of 1813; Major-General in the United States Army, 1814; de-feated
the British at New Orleans, Jan. 8, 1815; commanded an
expedition which conquered Florida, 1817; Governor of Florida,
1821; United States Senator, 1823-1825; President of the United
States, 1829-1837. Died June 8, 1845.
County seat. Webster. Daniel Webster, the great orator.
References
The Origin of Jackson County. N. C. Prog. 1909.
Sikes: Andrew Jackson. N. C. Prog. 1907.
Johnston.—1746. Craven. Afterwards parts of Duplin and Orange
were added. Gabriel Johnston, Governor of North Carolina from
1734 to 1752. Born in Scotland; educated University of St. An-drews
; studied medicine ; Professor of Oriental Languages, Uni-versity
St. Andrews; moved to London, as a political writer; ap-pointed
Governor of North Carolina, 1733 ; came to North Caro-lina,
1734. Active in promoting welfare of the colony, induced
32
many Scotch and German settlers to come to North Carolina.
Died in office July 17, 17^2.
Reference:
Connor: The Battle of Bentonville. N. C. Prog. 1905.
Jones.—1779. Craven. Willie (pronounced as if written Wiley) Jones,
a Revolutionary statesman. Born in Halifax County, N". C, in
1731 ; received a liberal education ; member Provincial Congresses
of 1775 and 1776; member of the House of Commons, 1777-1780;
State Senator, 1782, 1788 ; delegate to the Continental Congress,
1780-1781 ; elected to the United States Constitutional Convention
in 1787, but declined; member of the State Constitutional Conven-tion,
1788, 1789 ; leader of opponents of the Federal Constitution.
Died near Raleigh in 1801.
Lee.—1907. Chatham and Moore. General Robert E. Lee.
Lenoir.—1791. Dobbs and Craven. Dobbs County was named in
honor of Arthur Dobbs, one of the Royal Governors of North Caro-lina.
In 1791 the county was divided into Lenoir and Glasgow, and
the name of Dobbs erased from the map. Lenoir was named for
William Lenoir, one of the "heroes of King's Mountain." Born
May 20, 1751, in Virginia. Was brought by his father to Edge-combe
County, N. C, about 1759. Took side of colonists in dis-putes
with England. Moved, 1775, to that part of Surry County
afterwards Wilkes. Accompanied General Rutherford (see Ruther-ford
County) on expedition against Cherokee Indians, 1776. Cap-tain
in Cleveland's Regiment (see Cleveland County) at Battle of
King's Mountain, October 7, 1780. Justice of the Peace for Wilkes
County, 1777-1839. Member of House of Commons, 1781-1783;
State Senator, 1787-1795; Speaker of the Senate, 1790-1794.
Member of State Constitutional Conventions, 1788 and 1789. First
President Board of Trustees of the University. Died May 6, 1839.
County seat. Kinston. Originally Kingston, or "King's town,"
founded while North Carolina was a colony of the King of England.
Lincoln.—1779. Tryon. Gen. Benjamin Lincoln, a distinguished
General of the Revolution, whom Washington appointed to receive
the sword of Lord Cornwallis at the surrender of Yorktown. Ger-man
settlements were made in Lincoln County between the years
1745 and 1750, while it was still a part of Mecklenburg. Mecklen-burg
was cut off from Anson in 1762, and afterwards a part of
Mecklenburg was made into a new county, called Tryon, in honor
of William Tryon, Governor of North Carolina. When the Revo-lution
broke out Governor Tryon was for the King, so in 1779
Tryon County was divided into two counties, called Lincoln and
Rutherford. Lincoln County and the county seat, Lincolnton, were
both named in honor of Benjamin Lincoln, an American General
who fought under Washington. When Lincoln County was formed
Gen. Benjamin Lincoln was the General in command of the Amer-ican
army at Charleston, South Carolina. There were several
thousand North Carolina soldiers in his army. So the new county
was named in honor of their general.
33
References :
Nixon: History of Lincoln County. N. C. Book. Vol. IX, No. 3.
Graham: Battle of Ramsaur's Mill. N. C. Book. Vol. IV, No. 2.
See also N. C. Prog. 1908.
The Origin of Lincoln County. N. C. Prog. 1908.
Macon.—1828. Haywood. Nathaniel Macon, an American statesman.
Born in Warren County, N. C, December 17, 1757 ; pursued classi-cal
studies ; attended Princeton College ; served in the Revolution-ary
war; State Senator, 1780-1782 and 1784-1785; Representative
in Congress, 1791-1815; Speaker of the House of Representatives,
1801-1807; United States Senator, 1815-1828; President pro tem-pore
of the Senate, 1825-1827; President of the State Constitu-tional
Convention, 1835; Presidential elector on the Democratic
ticket in 1836. Died in Warren County, 1ST. C, June 29, 1837.
County seat. Franklin. Benjamin Franklin. (See Franklin
County.)
Reference:
The Origin of Macon County. N. C. Prog. 1909.
McDowell.—1842. Rutherford and Burke. Joseph McDowell, Revo-lutionary
soldier. Born in Winchester, Va., in 1756; moved to
Burke County, N. C. ; active in the Revolutionary War; member
of the House of Commons, 1782-1788 ; opposed the adoption of the
Federal Constitution in the State Convention, 1788 ; Representative
in Congress, 1793-1795 and 1797-1799. Died in Burke County, K C.
County seat. Marion. Francis Marion, General in the Revolu-tion.
Famous partisan leader of South Carolina.
Madison.—1851. Buncombe and Yancey. James Madison, President
of the United States. Born at Port Conway, Va., March 16, 1751
graduated from Princeton College, 1771 ; studied law and admitted
to the bar ; State Representative, 1776, and an executive councilor,
1778; delegate to the Continental Congress, 1780-1783 and 1786-
1788, and to the Federal Constitutional Convention, 1787 ; Repre-sentative
in Congress from Virginia, 1789-1797 ; Secretary of State
of the United States, 1801-1809 ; President, 1809-1817. Died at
Montpelier, Va., June 28, 1836.
Under Buncombe County, page 17, is a poem, "Racing Water"
(the French Broad river), which is also appropriate for use in
Madison County.
Reference:
The Origin of Madison County. N. C. Prog. 1909.
Martin.—1774. Halifax and Tyrrell. Josiah Martin, the last Royal
Governor of North Carolina. It is probable this name would have
been changed, like that of Dobbs and Tryon, but for the popularity
of Alexander Martin, Governor in 1782, and again in 1790. Josiah
Martin was born in England, April 3, 1737, appointed Major in the
English army. Appointed Governor of North Carolina, 1771.
During his administration the Revolutionary movement was organ-ized
in North Carolina. The first Provincial Congress met at New
34
Bern, August 25, 1774. On April 4, 1775, at Governor Martin's
command, the last Assembly in North Carolina under Royal rule
met at New Bern. In June, 1775, he fled from the Palace at New
Bern and took refuge in Fort Johnston, on the Cape Fear. July
19 he was driven from Port Johnston by the Cape Fear patriots
under John Ashe and Cornelius Harnett, and took refuge on a
British man of war. This was the end of the Royal government in
North Carolina. In 1780 he joined Cornwallis in his invasion of
North Carolina. After the Revolution Martin returned to Eng-land,
where he died April 13, 1786.
Mecklenburg.—1762. Anson. Princess Charlotte of Mecklenburg,
Queen of George III., King of England. The county seat, Char-lotte,
one of the prettiest cities in the State, was also named in her
honor. Mecklenburg County was the scene of some of the most
stirring events of the Revolution.
References
:
Alexander: Early Settlers of the Hopewell Section.
Alexander: History of Mecklenburg County.
Tompkins: History of Mecklenburg County.
Brevard: James Knox Polk. N. C. Prog. 1907.
Graham: The Battle of Cowan's Ford. N. C. Book. Vol. V, No. 4.
Clarkson: Hornet's Nest. N. C. Book. Vol. I, No. 6.
Noble: The Capture of Charlotte by Cornwallis. N. C. Prog. 1907.
Mitchell.—1861. Yancey, Watauga, Caldwell, Burke, and McDowell.
Elisha Mitchell, a professor in the University of North Carolina.
Born in Connecticut, August 19, 1793; educated at Yale College
and entered the ministry. Professor of mathematics, University of
North Carolina, 1817-1825. Professor of chemistry, 1825-1857.
He pointed out the fact that the highest mountain peaks east of
the Rockies are in this State. Climbed to the top of Black Moun-tain
to measure it, and prove his statement. Afterwards, in 1857,
his statement being disputed, he again climbed to the top, and again
measured its height. While on this expedition he fell from a tall
cliff, forty feet high, and was killed. Several days later his body
was found lying at the bottom of a pool of water. It was carried
to Asheville and buried, but afterwards it was taken up and re-buried
on the top of Black Mountain, now called in his honor,
Mount Mitchell. A monument has been erected on top of the
mountain in his memory.
Reference:
The Origin of Mitchell County. N. C. Prog. 1909.
Montgomery.—1779. Anson. General Richard Montgomery, who lost
his life at the battle of Quebec in 1775 while trying to conquer
Canada.
County seat. Troy. John B. Troy, a prominent attorney of the
county, and solicitor.
Moore.—1784. Cumberland. Judge Alfred Moore, of Brunswick.
Born May 21, 1755. Captain in First North Carolina Regiment of
Continentals, 1775 ; served against the Highlanders in campaign
which ended at Moore's Creek Bridge, February 27, 1776 ; took part
35
in defence of Charleston, S. C, 1776; resigned from army 1777.
Admitted to bar 1775; Attorney-General, 1782-1790; member of
House of Commons, 1792 ; Judge Superior Court, 1798-1799 ; Judge
Supreme Court of the United States, 1799-1804. Kesigned 1804.
Died, October 15, 1810.
Nash.—1777. Edgecombe. Francis Nash, a soldier of the Kevolution.
Born in Virginia, 1742. Came to Hillsboro, 1ST. C, 1762. Clerk of
Orange County court, 1763. Member General Assembly, 1764,
1770, 1773. Captain in colonial militia at battle of Alamance, May
16, 1771. Member of Provincial Congress, April, 1775, August,
1775. Lieutenant-Colonel First North Carolina Kegiment Conti-nental
line, 1775; Colonel, 1776; Brigadier-General, 1777. Joined
Washington's army in New Jersey, 1777. Killed at battle of Ger-mantown,
October 4, 1777.
THE DEATH OF GENERAL FRANCIS NASH.
BY ALEXANDER MAKTIN.
Genius of Freedom! Whither art thou fled?
While fields of death thy sons undaunted tread,
Lo, where for thee thy brightest heroes fall,
And not thy shield to ward the winged ball.
On Bunker's height great Warren is no more;
The brave Montgomery's fate we next deplore;
Princeton's fam'd fields to trembling Britain tell,
How, scored with wounds, the conquering Mercer fell;
New England's boast, the generous Worster, slain,
Demands our tears, while Britons fly the plains.
Last flow our sorrows for a favorite son,
Whom, weeping, Carolina claims her own,
The gallant Nash, who, with the fatal wound,
Though tortured, welt'ring on the hostile ground,
"Fight on, my troops," with smiling ardor said,
" 'Tis but the fate of war, be not dismay'd."
High heaven ordain'd for great designs this woe,
Which, till the destined period, none must know.
Heroes of old thus for their country stood,
Raised mighty empires, founded with their blood;
In this new world like great events must come;
Thus Athens rose, and thus imperial Rome.
jSTew Hanover.—1729. Bath. Hanover, a country in Europe whose
ruler became king of England with the title of George I.
County seat. Wilmington. Spencer Compton, Earl of Wilming-ton,
Prime Minister of England, friend and patron of Gen. Gabriel
Johnston, who gave his name to the town.
References:
Waddell: History of New Hanover County.
Davis: Cornelius Harnett: "The Pride of the Cape Fear." N. C.
Prog. 1903.
Connor: Cornelius Harnett. N. C. Book. Vol. V, No. 3.
Whitaker: William Hooper. N. C. Book. Vol. V, No. 1.
Davis: The Stamp Act on the Cape Fear. N. C. Prog. 1903. See
also N. C. Book. Vol. I, No. 3.
36
Sprunt: Tales of the Cape Fear Blockade. N. C. Book. Vol. I,
No. 10. See also N. C. Prog. 1903.
Nash: The Borough Towns of North Carolina (Wilmington). N. C.
Book. Vol. VI, No. 2.
The Lower Cape Fear Section. N. C. Prog. 1903.
McKoy: Incidents of the Early and Permanent Settlement of the
Cape Fear. N. C. Book. Vol. VII, No. 3.
Bassett: The County of Clarendon. N. C. Book. Vol. II, No. 10.
Northampton.—1741. Bertie. George, Earl of Northampton, an Eng-lish
nobleman. His son, Spencer Compton, Earl of Wilmington,
was high in office when Gabriel Johnston was Governor of North
Carolina, who had the town of Wilmington named in his honor.
County seat. Jackson. Andrew Jackson. (See Jackson
County.
Onslow.—1734. Bath. Arthur Onslow, for more than thirty years
Speaker of the House of Commons in the British Parliament.
County seat. Jacksonville. Andrew Jackson. (See Jackson
County.
)
Orange.—1752. Granville, Johnston, and Bladen counties. It was
named Orange in honor of William of Orange, a famous Dutch
soldier and statesman. In 1689 William of Orange became King
of England. In English history he is known as King William III.
He was one of England's best and greatest rulers, and did so much
to secure liberty for the people of England that his name is hon-ored
wherever English liberty is enjoyed. Orange County was set-tled
by the Germans and the Scotch-Irish. Most of that part of
the county settled by the Germans has since been formed into the
counties of Guilford, Randolph, and Alamance.
Hillsboro, the county seat of Orange, was one of the most im-portant
towns in North Carolina for many years before the Revo-lution.
Named for Lord Hillsborough, an English nobleman, Sec-retary
of State for the colonies.
References:
Brooks: The Regulators. N. C. Prog. 1907.
The Origin of Orange County. N. C. Prog. 1908.
Nash: The Scotch-Irish in Orange County. N. C. Prog. 1907.
Nash: History of Orange County. N. C. Book. Vol. X, No. 2.
Nash: Historic Hillsboro. N. C. Book. Vol. Ill, No. 4.
Nash: The Borough Towns of North Carolina (Hillsboro). N. C.
Book. Vol. VI, No. 2.
Pittman: The Revolutionary Congresses of North Carolina. N. C.
Book. Vol. II, No. 6.
Pamlico.—1872. Craven and Beaufort. An Indian name.
Pasquotank.—1672. Albemarle. A tribe of Indians in eastern Caro-lina.
Pender.—1875. New Hanover. William D. Pender, Major-General
in the Confederate army. Born in Edgecombe County, N. C, Feb-ruary
6, 1834. Graduated from the United States Military Acad-emy
at West Point, 1854. Saw service in the West fighting against
Indians. Kesigned from the United States army March 31, 1861,
and in May entered the service of North Carolina. Elected Colonel
37
of the Third Regiment, Worth Carolina Volunteers, May 16, 1861.
Fought bravely in a half dozen pitched battles under "Stonewall"
Jackson, and took part in most of the great battles around Rich-mond.
On account of his skill and bravery at the battle of Fair
Oaks, which was witnessed by President Jefferson Davis, the Presi-dent
promoted him on the field to Brigadier-General. Bore an im-portant
part in the battle of Chancellorsville. The last order given
by "Stonewall" Jackson was to General Pender. "You must hold
your ground, General Pender," he said, as he was carried off the
field, "you must hold your ground." General Pender held his
ground. In May, 1863, he was promoted to Major-General.
Wounded at battle of Gettysburg. Died from this wound, July 18,
1861.
THE BATTLE OF MOORE'S CREEK BRIDGE.
FKOM A POEM BY MARSHALL DELANCEY HAYWOOD.
Recalling now the years long dead,
Methinks again I hear
MacDonald's Highland legions tread
The pathway to Cape Fear.
A winding creek they soon behold,
Spanned by a bridge of pine,
Where, like the Spartan host of old,
Stands drawn our battle line.
"King George and broadswords!" fierce and loud,
Next rings their slogan call,
As their great chieftain, brave McLeod,*
Comes rushing to his fall;
Yet onward still, with charge and cheer,
His clansmen press the fight,
As paladins, unknown to fear,
With claymores long and bright.
The bridge was long, with planks uptorn,
The stream ran swift below,
Yet quick to dare this hope forlorn,
Pressed forward still our foe;
Before our rifles' deadly crack
Full brave they made a stand,
But faltered on the narrow track
Ere they had gained the land.
Then, drenched with blood, they onward bore,
While still was spared them breath,
And fell our fatal guns before
—
Unconquered still in death!
Thus darkly closed that deadly fray
And Freedom's sun uprose,
To shine on happy scenes today
When vanquished are our foes.
References:
Connor: The Battle of Moore's Creek Bridge. N. C. Prog. 1905.
Noble: The Battle of Moore's Creek Bridge. N. C. Book. Vol. Ill,
No. 11.
'Pronounced to rhyme with "cloud."
38
The Lower Cape Fear Section. N. C. Prog. 1903.
McKoy: Incidents of the Early and Permanent Settlement of the
Cape Fear. N. C. Book. Vol. VII, No. 3.
Perquimans.—1672. Albemarle. A tribe of Indians.
County seat. Hertford. Earl of Hertford. (See Hertford
County.
)
References :
Connor: John Harvey. N. C. Book. Vol. VIII, No. 1.
McMullan: Hertford. N. C. Prog. 1902.
Ashe: George Durant. N. C. Book. Vol. X, No. 1.
White: The Quakers of Perquimans. N. C. Book. Vol. VII, No. 4.
Person.—1791. Caswell. General Thomas Person, Revolutionary
patriot, member of the Council of Safety, and trustee of the Uni-versity.
He gave a large sum of money to the University, and a
building was erected in his honor called Person Hall.
Pitt.—1760. Beaufort, William Pitt. (See Chatham.)
County seat. Greenville. Gen. Nathanael Greene. (See Greene
County.
Polk.—1855. Rutherford and Henderson. William Polk, a Revolu-tionary
soldier. Born in Mecklenburg County, N. C, July 9,
1758. Entered Revolutionary army, 1775 ; served in South Caro-lina
; wounded at battle of Canebrake, S. C, December 22, 1775
elected Major Ninth North Carolina Regiment Continental line,
November, 1776 ; joined Washington's army in New Jersey, 1777
took part in battle of Brandywine, Pa., September 11, 1777;
wounded at battle of Germantown, Pa., October 4, 1777 ; aide-de-camp
to General Caswell at battle of Camden, S. C, August 16,
1780; took part in battles of Cowan's Ford, N. C, February 1,
1781, and Guilford Court House, March 15, 1781. Apppinted Lieu-tenant-
Colonel of a South Carolina regiment by Governor Rut-ledge,
of South Carolina ; later Colonel ; took active part in cam-paign
in South Carolina, especially at battle of Eutaw Springs,
September 8, 1781. Served in Legislature 1787, 1790, 1791. Pres-ident
State Bank at Raleigh, 1811-1819. Trustee of University,
1792-1834. Died at Raleigh, January 14, 1834.
County seat. Columbus, Christopher Columbus.
Randolph.—1779. Guilford. Peyton Randolph, an American states-man.
Born near Williamsburg, Ya., in 1723 ; received a classical
education ; studied law and practiced ; served many years in the
Virginia House of Burgesses, and was its Speaker several years;
President of the Virginia Convention in 1773 ; President of the
Continental Congress at Philadelphia, Pa., in 1774; delegate to
Continental Congress, which met at Philadelphia in 1775. Died at
Philadelphia, Pa., October 22, 1775.
County seat. Asheboro. Governor Samuel Ashe. (See Ashe
County.
Reference:
The Origin of Randolph County. N. C. Prog. 1908.
39
Richmond.—1779. Anson. Charles Lennox, Duke of Richmond, prin-cipal
Secretary of State in William Pitt's second administration.
He was a strong friend of the American colonies and made the mo-tion
in the House of Lords that they be granted their independence.
County seat. Rockingham. Charles Wentworth, Marquis of
Rockingham. (See Rockingham County.)
Robeson.—1786. Bladen. Colonel Thomas Robeson, a soldier of the
Revolution. Born in Bladen County, N. C, January 11, 1740.
Member Provincial Congress, August, 1775 ; April, 1776, and No-vember,
1776. An officer in Whig army at battle of Moore's Creek
Bridge, February, 1776. Was appointed Colonel of militia. Active
against Tories throughout the Revolution. His home was burned
by them, 1781. One of the leaders in the battle of Elizabethtown,
September, 1781, where the Tories were defeated and peace estab-lished
in the Cape Fear section. Died May 2, 1785.
Reference:
McMillan: The Croatans. N. C. Book. Vol. X, No. 3.
Rockingham.—1785. Guilford. Charles Wentworth, Marquis of Rock-ingham,
who was the leader of the party in the British Parliament
that advocated American independence. He was Prime Minister
when the Stamp Act was repealed.
County seat. Wentworth. (See above.)
THE HILLS OF DAN.
BY ABRAHAM FORREST MOREHEAD.
The world is not one garden spot,
One pleasure-ground for man;
Few are the spots that intervene,
Such as the "Hills of Dan1
1
"
Though fairer prospects greet mine eyes
In Nature's partial plan,
Yet I am bound by stronger ties,
To love the Hills of Dan.
The breezes that around them play,
And the bright streams they fan,
Are loved as scenes of childhood's day,
Amid the Hills of Dan.
Here, too, the friends of early days,
Their fated courses ran;
And now they find a resting place
Amid the Hills of Dan.
Ye saw the twilight of my dawn,
When first my life began;
And ye shall see that light withdrawn,
My native Hills of Dan.
Whatever fortune may ensue,
In life's short changeful span,
Oft mem'ry shall turn back to view
My native Hills of Dan.
40
The love that warms this youthful breast
Shall glow within the man;
And when I slumber, may I rest
Amid the Hills of Dan.
Rowan.—1753. Anson. Rowan County in 1753 included the territory
that today is found in thirty counties, and it ran so far beyond the
mountains that perhaps no white man in North Carolina had ever
been as far west as its boundary line. Named in honor of Matthew
Rowan, a prominent leader in North Carolina before the Revolu-tion.
Member of the Governor's Council, 1732 ; moved to New
Hanover County, 1734; surveyor-general of North Carolina, 1736;
with Edward Mosely and Robert Halton ran part of the boundary
line between North and South Carolina, 1737. President of Coun-cil
and acting Governor, 1753-1754, when the county of Rowan was
formed. Continued member of Council until his death, in 1760.
County seat. Salisbury. From city of same name in England.
References
:
The Origin of Rowan County. N. C. Prog. 1908.
Rumple: History of Rowan County.
MeCorkle: Colonel Francis Locke. N. C. Book. Vol. X, No. 1.
Nash: The Borough Towns of North Carolina (Salisbury). N. C.
Book. Vol. VI, No. 2.
Rutherford.—1779. Tryon and Burke. General Griffith Rutherford,
a Revolutionary soldier. Born in Ireland ; came to America, 1739 ;
settled in Rowan County, N. C, 1753 ; member General Assembly
1766, 1770, 1771; Sheriff of Rowan County, 1769; member ,Provin-cial
Congresses, 1775-1776; appointed Colonel of Rowan militia,
1775; Brigadier-General, 1776; in July, 1776, led 2,500 men across
the mountains, through Swannanoa Gap, to the Tuckaseegee, down
Valley River and the Hiawassee, against the Cherokee Indians,
destroyed their towns, and put an end to their raids. In 1779 took
part in defence of Savannah, Ga. Wounded and captured at battle
of Camden, August 16, 1780. Member State Senate from Rowan
County, 1777-1780, 1783-1786. In 1786 removed to Tennessee,
where he died in 1800. Both North Carolina and Tennessee have
named counties for him.
County seat. Rutherfordton. Griffith Rutherford.
Sampson.—1784. Duplin and New Hanover. Colonel John Sampson,
who was a member of Governor Martin's Council.
Scotland.—1899. Richmond. Named after the country of Scotland,
the northern part of the island of Great Britain. Most of the peo-ple
of this county are descendants of Scotch Highlanders.
Stanly.—184-1. Montgomery. John Stanly, an American statesman.
Born in North Carolina ; a member of the House of Commons from
New Bern, 1798, 1799, 1812-1815, 1818-1819, 1823, 1825-1826;
Representative in Congress, 1801-1803, 1809-1811. In 1802, as a
result of political disputes he fought a duel with former Governor
Richard Dobbs Spaight, in which Spaight was killed. In 1803
Stanly was pardoned by Governor Benjamin Williams. He died in
New Bern, August 3, 1834.
41
Reference:
The Origin of Stanly County. N. C. Prog. 1908.
Stokes.—1789. Surry. Colonel John Stokes, a soldier of the Revolu-tion.
Born March 20, 1756, probably in Virginia. In February,
1776, appointed Ensign in Sixth Virginia Regiment Continental
line; promoted to Lieutenant December, 1776; Captain February,
1778. Was desperately wounded and lost his right arm at Wax-haw,
when the British, under Tarleton, defeated the Americans
under Buford, May 29, 1780. After the Revolution settled in Mont-gomery
County, K C. Was State Senator, 1786 and 1787. Moved
to Salisbury, 1788. Member General Assembly and also State Con-stitutional
Convention at Fayetteville, which adopted the Consti-tution
of the United States, 1789. Was the law teacher of Andrew
Jackson. Appointed by Washington United States Judge for North
Carolina, 1789. Died October 12, 1790.
Appropriate for programs in Stokes County is a poem, "The
Hills of Dan," printed under Rockingham County, above.
References
:
Clewell: History of Wachovia in North Carolina.
The Origin of Stokes County. N. C. Prog. 1908.
Surry.—1771. Rowan. Lord Surrey, a prominent member of Parlia-ment
who opposed the taxation of the American colonies by Parlia-ment.
THE CLIFF.
(Pilot Mountain, Surry County, North Carolina.)
BY JOHN HENRY BONER.
See yonder cliff—how ghastly bare
Lightning has torn its rugged face.
It looks like one whom cursed care
Has robbed of every peaceful grace.
Yet how sublime! How proudly still!
Barren and thunder-beat and drear.
Behold the unconquerable will,
Dead to emotion—love or fear
—
Unchanging when the rising sun
Gilds its high head with heavenly light,
Or when the red moon breaks upon
Its brow across the gulf of night.
3wain.—1871. Jackson and Macon. David L. Swain, Governor of
North Carolina and President of the University. Born January
4, 1801, in Buncombe County; admitted to the bar in 1822; mem-ber
of the General Assembly, 1824, 1825, 1826, 1828, 1829. Elected
Superior Court Judge, 1830. Governor of North Carolina, 1833-
1835. Member of the Constitutional Convention, 1835. President
of the University, 1835-1868. The doors of the University were
closed by the "carpet-bag" government of North Carolina in 1868,
and President Swain was dismissed. Died August 27, 1868.
42
References
:
The Origin of Swain County. N. C. Prog. 1909.
Vance: David L. Swain. N. C. Prog. 1909.
Connor: Cherokee Indians in the Revolution. N. C. Prog. 1909.
Stringfield: The North Carolina Cherokee Indians. N. C. Book.
Vol. Ill, No. 2. Also Vol. IV, No. 8.
Transylvania.—1861. Henderson and Jackson. The name is derived
from two Latin words, "trans," across, "sylva," woods.
County seat. Brevard. Ephraim Brevard, one of the leaders
in Mecklenburg County, who helped to win for Charlotte the name,
"The Hornets' Nest" of the Kevolution.
Under Buncombe County is a poem, "Racing Waters" (the French
Broad river), which is also appropriate for use in Transylvania
County.
Reference:
The Origin of Transylvania County. N. C. Prog. 1909.
Tyrrell.—1729. Albemarle. Sir John Tyrrell, who at one time was
one of the lords proprietors.
Union.—1842. Anson and Mecklenburg. Named in honor of the
"Union" of the States.
County seat. Monroe. James Monroe, fifth President of the
United States.
Vance.—1881. Granville, Warren, and Franklin. Zebulon Baird
Vance. Born, in Buncombe County, N. C, May 13, 1830 ; educated
at Washington College, Tenn., and at the University of North
Carolina; studied law; admitted to the bar in January, 1852 ; county
attorney for Buncombe County; member of the State House of
Commons in 1854; Representative in Congress, 1857-1861. En-tered
the Confederate army as Captain in May, 1861, and made
Colonel in August, 1861. Elected Governor of North Carolina in
August, 1862, and reelected in 1864; elected to the United
States Senate in November, 1870, but was refused admission, and
resigned in January, 1872 ; again Governor of North Carolina in
1876-1878 ; elected to the United States Senate and took his seat
March 18, 1879 ; reelected in 1884 and 1890, serving until his death,
April 14, 1894.
County seat. Henderson. Leonard Henderson. (See Hender-son
County.)
Wake.—1770. Johnston, Cumberland, and Orange. Governor Tryon's
wife, whose maiden name was Wake. Some historians say that the
county was named for "Esther Wake, the popular sister of Tryon's
wife," but there is no reason to suppose that any such person ever
existed. She is purely a creature of the imagination.
County seat. Raleigh. Sir Walter Raleigh.
References:
Battle: The Early History of Raleigh.
Amis: Historical Raleigh.
Briggs: Joseph Gales, Editor of Raleigh's first newspaper. N. C
Book. Vol. VII, No. 2.
43
Battle: Raleigh and the Old Town of Bloomsbury. N. C. Book.
Vol. II, No. 7.
Addresses at the unveiling of the tablet marking the site of Blooms-bury.
N. C. Book. Vol. XI, No. 1.
Haywood: The Genesis of Wake County. N. C. Book. Vol. V, No. 1.
Warren.—1779. Bute and Granville. General Joseph Warren, a
brave Massachusetts soldier who fell while fighting at the battle of
Bunker Hill.
Washington.—1799. Tyrrell. George Washington.
County seat. Plymouth. Town of the same name in England,
whence sailed Raleigh's expeditions to Roanoke Island, 1584-1587.
Watauga.—1849. Ashe, Wilkes, Caldwell, and Yancey. Named after
an Indian tribe.
The county seat is Boone, named in honor of the famous hunter,
Daniel Boone. Born in Pennsylvania; moved into North Carolina
and settled on Yadkin River when a boy. Soon grew tired of his
quiet life on the Yadkin and started for the unbroken wilderness
across the mountains, and explored what is now Tennessee and
Kentucky. Afterwards returned to North Carolina, but nine years
later went still further into the wild woods, followed by his own
family and several other hunters; they made a settlement called
Boonesboro on the banks of Kentucky river, which was the begin-ning
of Kentucky.
Reference:
The Origin of Watauga County. N. C. Prog. 1909.
Wayne.—1779. Dobbs and Craven. Anthony Wayne, a Revolutionary
soldier. Born in Pennsylvania, January 1, 1745 ; received a lim-ited
education ; farmer ; member of the colonial house of represen-tatives
in 1773 ; served in the Revolutionary army ; after the war
moved to Georgia, and located upon a tract of land donated him
by that State as a recompense for his military service; delegate to
the State Constitutional Convention in 1787 ; Representative in
Congress from Georgia, 1791-1792 ; in 1792 his seat was declared
vacant by the House ; again entered the service of the United States
army as Major-General and General-in-Chief of the army; con-cluded
a treaty August 3, 1795, with the hostile Indians northwest
of the Ohio river. Died at Presque Isle, Pa., December 15, 1796.
Reference:
Ellet: The Midnight Ride of Mary Slocum. N. C. Prog. 1903.
Wilkes.—1777. Surry and Burke. John Wilkes. Wilkes was a vio-lent
opponent of the Tory Party in England, who would not let
him take his seat in Parliament to which he had been elected. The
Americans imagined he was suffering in the cause of liberty and
named the county in his honor.
Wilson.—1855. Edgecombe, Nash, Johnston, and Wayne. Louis D.
Wilson. Born in Edgecombe County, May 12, 1789. Twenty
times elected to the General Assembly. Served in House of Com-mons,
1815, 1816, 1817, 1818, 1819; in Senate, 1820, 1824, 1825,
1826, 1827, 1828, 1829, 1830, 1831, 1832, 1838, 1840, 1842, 1844,
44
1846. Speaker of the Senate, 1832. Member of Constitutional
Convention, 1835. Presidential elector, 1836. In 1846 obtained
leave of absence from the Senate, returned home, raised a regiment,
and joined United States Army in the Mexican War. The Senate
unanimously adopted a resolution expressing regret at his resigna-tion,
and thanking him for his "able, dignified, and patriotic serv-ices"
to the State. Was appointed by President of the United
States Colonel 12th Regiment United States Army. Died in Mex-ico,
from fever, August 12, 1847. Left his estate "to
t
the poor of
Edgecombe." A monument has been erected to him at Tarboro.
Yadkin.—1850. Surry. Name derived from the name of the Yadkin
River which runs through it. It is supposed to be an Indian name.
Yancey.—1833. Burke and Buncombe. Bartlett Yancey. Born in
Caswell County, ST. C, about 1780 ; graduated from the University
of North Carolina; studied law and practiced; Representative in
Congress, 1813-1817. State Senator and Speaker of the Senate,
1817-1827. Died in Caswell County, K C, August 30, 1828.
County seat. Burnsville. Otway Burns, of Beaufort. Captain
of a privateer during the War of 1812, which inflicted great dam-age
to English commerce. Member House of Commons from Car-teret
County, 1821-1822, 1824-1827, 1832. State Senator, 1828-
1829, 1831, 1833-1834.
CAROLINA.
FROM CAROLINA, BY THOMAS W. HARRINGTON.
Carolina, the pride of my bosom,
Carolina, the land of the free,
Carolina, the home of my fathers,
Carolina, my song is of thee.
From Mitchell, the pride of the mountains,
To Hatteras, the dread of the sea,
The sunshine of liberty gladdens
And Tyranny trembles at thee.
Her honor is high as the summit
Of Mitchell, her loftiest peak;
Her vigor is that of the Roman,
Her spirit is that of the Greek.
Her daughters are bright as the sunshine
That lightens the hills of the west,
And fair as the rose of the valley
That blushes and blooms on her breast.
Carolina! Carolina, forever!
A glorious destiny waits
Carolina, the cradle of freedom,
The noblest of all the great States.
NORTH CAROLINA AND NORTH CAROLINIANS IN HISTORY.
BY MATT W. RANSOM.
A DECLAMATION.
(From an address delivered at Greensboro, at the "First North Carolina Reunion," October 12, 1903.)
It is impossible to express our emotions on beholding this unnum-bered
multitude; this countless throng of intelligent, happy, hopeful,
expectant faces from every section of this boundless Republic; all ani-mated
with one sentiment of fervid interest and affection for the "dear
old home." Here, right here, are united throbbing hearts, from all
the divisions of our country, in one patriotic aspiration for renewed
and continued brotherhood and association. One hope, one purpose
—
for the oblivion of every painful memory. It is an occasion for uni-versal
congratulation—not a cloud, not a shadow on the day—the whole
horizon beams. with promise and hope. It is a day of destiny; of power
and patriotism. It is a day in history, of glorious life—a day without
a discord. We can almost see the bow of peace with its covenants in
the eternal skies * * * * * * *
What memories ! What histories, does this scene revive ! We can
almost behold the beautiful myth of tradition and history, and see the
gallant, gifted, glorious Raleigh springing from his proud ship and
planting the standard of England and the Cross on the shores of the
New World near the Roanoke. We can almost hear the echoes of the
great Atlantic beating its "alarms" on "deathly Hatteras." We can
watch the first colonists on their frail but faithful vessels with nothing
but the love of liberty and the love of God alive in their hearts. We
see colony after colony lost,- and nothing left but the dismal romance
of a tragedy. Finally, a settlement is established, the first permanent
beginning of a free civilized government in the Western Hemisphere,
destined soon to become the greatest, grandest, best, the sun has shone
on. The forest is subdued—the savage is overcome—a chain of set-tlements
from Plymouth Rock to Georgia follows.
Agriculture, Commerce, Trade, the Arts succeed; the New World
flourishes ; the Mother Country menaces her liberties. Resistance,
united resistance is made. Mecklenburg—glorious, immortal Mecklen-burg—
on the twentieth day of May, 1775, lights on the streets of de-voted
Charlotte the first fire of American Independence. North Caro-lina
consecrates herself to liberty, and free government. A free State
is organized at Halifax, "heroic Halifax." Her constitution declares
for a university of learning, and for education of the people. The
Battle of Moore's Creek is Avon. The victory of King's Mountain
strikes the British with dismay. Cornwallis "staggers back" from
Guilford Courthouse, wounded, crippled, sick, to finally surrender at
Yorktown. The sword of Washington everywhere is triumphant, glo-rious—
but greatest and best when his own great hand resigns it to the
laws of his country. A united free government is founded by the
States and people, and North Carolina after deliberation adopts her
46
Constitution, and demands admission to the Union. Washington, the
Father of his Country, then President of the United States of America,
hails her coming into the Union, and pronounces her the "important
State of North Carolina.'7 History says of her that she has always
defied and destroyed oppression; that tyranny lies dead at her feet;
that she has never worn the yoke of power; that her people may right-fully
be called "The Children of Liberty." No stain of fraud, cruelty,
persecution, or shame, darkens her fair name; but her whole life is
the unsullied record of a brave, honest, upright people, devoted to lib-erty,
law, order, and to God. My countrymen, for one moment let us
contemplate a few, a very few, of the thousand names who have hon-ored,
adorned, blessed her history.
The Revolution records no brighter or truer names than those of
Caswell, Davie, Sumner, Nash, Davidson, Ashe, Cleveland, McDowell,
Moore, Waddell * * * * A more faithful, noble, illustrious, mod-est
line of patriots, heroes, martyrs, can not be found, than our beloved
State presents in her Revolutionary history. Their ashes sleep in
deathless memory and gratitude among the deliverers and benefactors
of their country and mankind.
Among the heroes of the Revolution is the name of Nathaniel Ma-con—
born in the County of "Bute" (now the counties of Warren and
Franklin). History says "there were no Tories in Bute." The Fed-eral
Government was barely established when he appears in Congress
as a representative from North Carolina. He remained in the House
and Senate for thirty-seven years. Three times Speaker of the House,
and twice President of the Senate. His history is known to the world.
If the Senate stands for a thousand years, he will continue to stand as
its model figure of honesty, and devotion to the people's rights, * * *
Then comes the able, learned, eloquent Gaston, the proved superior
of Henry Clay in parliamentary debate. Next Badger, the Master of
Law; "Webster's Superior and Story's Equal"; to whom the Senate of
the United States accorded the unmatched honor of unanimously de-claring
in solemn resolution recorded in its annals, its sincere regret
at his leaving the Senate, and the admiration and respect of the Sena-tors
for his ability and courtesy. * * * *
Let me but touch a few of the tallest oaks in the grand forest. See
Daniel Boone, monarch of the woods and rifle. Look at Andrew Jack-son,
the one conqueror without a defeat; the crowned hero of New
Orleans, the greatest battle ever fought; the invincible president and
statesman, who crushed all opposition under his feet. James K. Polk,
the able, just, and wise President ; chief actor in the annexation of
Texas ; President when the Mexican War was fought ; and who ex-tended
our territory and power broadly to the Pacific. Thomas H.
Benton, the Hercules of the Senate for thirty years. William R. King,
Vice-President with Pierce. * * * *
My countrymen, it is my duty, sacred to truth, to history, and to our
whole country, to remind you of the conduct of North Carolina, our
mother State, in that memorable war of the States. It is a history
without a thorn. Far from reviving bitterness and cruel animosity, its
exalted influence is to compose strife, to bury differences, to reconcile
47
a people, and to strengthen fraternal union. There is nothing, literally
nothing, in the history of North Carolina to give one pain to the people
of any part of the country. It is as clear as a sunbeam. Not a shame
on the record. Not one sinister line on her bright page. It is as direct
as a ray of sunshine from the skies. She sent to the field one hundred
and twenty-five thousand men, one-fifth of the Southern Army. The
world knows its history by heart. For indomitable courage, for in-vincible
fortitude, for heroic sacrifice, it has never been surpassed.
For magnanimity in triumph, dignity in defeat, serene equinimity in
surrender, it is without a parallel. It left its animosity with the ragged
fragments of banners and arms on the field of Appomattox. It buried
all hostilities in the beloved graves of its glorious battlefields. It re-turned
to its home in peace with all mankind. Its heart did not retain
a resentment, a malice, or a revenge. It was too full of sorrow, too
full of honor for hatred. Its part was too great, too brave, too noble,
to cherish a discord. The guns had been stacked, and its duty was
peace. It had met its fate, and there was no stain on its sword. It
would not perpetuate fire and blood. It would cultivate the arts of
peace, of patriotism. The war was ended. The sword had settled the
quarrel, and forever. North Carolinians returned to their wasted
homes, to rebuild, to cultivate, to improve them, to revive her indus-tries,
to preserve her honor, to raise patriots and Christians to take
their places; to preserve liberty and do their whole duty to their coun-try
and to God. They went to work, and today we behold the result
in restored prosperity, in secured liberty, in increasing happiness, in
sacred love to country, and in the national hope of all the enjoyment
of citizens in a common brotherhood.
Three years ago a war broke out between this country and Spain.
With the first call of troops, North Carolina was at the front. The
great State sent her sons to the army, and the first victim of the war
was the brave, beautiful, heroic Worth Bagley. In the flower of man-hood,
with the blessings of his beloved mother on his brow, he gave his
young, promising life to his country on the deck of the Winslow in
Cardenas Bay. The young hero fell a noble sacrifice to his country,
and poured out his lifeblood for the honor of the Union, and died with
its flag in his hand. Beloved North Carolinian
The tears of his countrymen were still flowing when the wires brought
the sad news that Captain William Shipp, of North Carolina, the pride,
the hope of his house and State, had fallen, in the front line of the
charge at Santiago, bravely doing his duty.
North Carolina wept over her gallant, devoted sons ; she had proudly
given .them to the Union, and their blood had been hallowed in its
defense. May it forever cement its bonds, and remain the eternal
sacrement of love and peace of all the States. Let fanaticism hide its
hideous head before the encircling, glorious spectacle of renewed Union.
Think of the brave, heroic, bright, young Batcheler deliberately dy-ing
for his duty in the burning air of the Philippines
My countrymen, it is a great thing to know that North Carolinians
are always to be found in the front line of danger and duty.
48
AMERICA.
BY S. F. SMITH.
My country, 'tis of thee,
Sweet land of liberty,
Of thee I sing;
Land where my fathers died,
Land of the Pilgrim's pride,
From every mountain side
Let freedom ring.
My native country, thee,
Land of the noble free,
Thy name I love;
I love thy rocks and rills,
Thy woods and templed hills,
My heart with rapture thrills,
Like that above.
Let music swell the breeze,
And ring from all the trees,
Sweet freedom's song;
Let mortal tongues awake,
Let all that breathe partake,
Let rocks their silence break,
The sound prolong.
Our father's God, to Thee,
Author of liberty,
To Thee we sing;
Long may our land be bright
With freedom's holy light;
Protect us by Thy might,
Great God, our King!
49
GOVERNORS OF NORTH CAROLINA SINCE 1776.
Elected by the Legislature. 1
19, 1776—April .., 1780 Richard Caswell .Lenoir
-., 1780—June 25, 1781 Abner Nash Craven
25, 1781—April 22, 1782 Thomas Burke Orange
22, 1782—Nov. 8, 1784 Alexander Martin Guilford
9, 1784—Dec. 13, 1787 Richard Caswell Lenoir
13, 1787—Dec. 5, 1789 Samuel Johnston . Chowan
5, 1789—Dec. 11, 1792 Alexander Martin Guilford
11, 1792—Nov. 14, 1795 Richard Dobbs Spaight Craven
14, 1795—Dec. 3, 1798 Samuel Ashe New Hanover
3, 1798—Nov. 24, 1799 William R. Davie Halifax
24, 1799—Dec. 6, 1802 Benjamin Williams Moore
6, 1802—Nov. 24, 1805 James Turner Warren
25, 1805—Nov. 24, 1807 Nathaniel Alexander Mecklenburg
25, 1807—Nov. 28, 1808 Benjamin Williams Moore
28, 180S—Dec. 1, 1810 David Stone Bertie
1, 1810—Dee. 7, 1811 Benjamin Smith Brunswick
7, 1811—Nov. 20, 1814 William Hawkins Warren
20, 1814—Dec. 6, 1817 William Miller Warren
6, 1817—Dec. 7, 1820 John Branch Halifax
7, 1820—Dec. 7, 1821 Jesse Franklin Surry
7, 1821—Dec. 7, 1824 Gabriel Holmes Sampson
7, 1824—Dec. 8, 1827 Hutchins G. Burton Halifax
8, 1827—Dec. 12, 1828 James Iredell Chowan
12, 1828—Dec. 18, 1830 John Owen Bladen
18, 1830—Dec. 6, 1832 Montford Stokes Wilkes
6, 1832—Dec. 10, 1835 David L. Swain Buncombe
10, 1835—Dec. 31, 1836 Richard Dobbs Spaight, Jr Craven
Governors Elected by the People.2
31, 1836—Jan. 1, 1841 Edward B. Dudley : New Hanove
1, 1841—Jan. 1, 1845 John M. Morehead Guilford
1, 1845—Jan. 1, 1849 William A. Graham Orange
1, 1849—Jan. 1, 1851 Charles Manly , Wake
1, 1851— 1854 David S. Reid Rockingham
1854—Jan. 1, 1855 Warren Winslow Cumberland
1, 1855—Jan. 1, 1859 Thomas Bragg Northampton
1, 1859—Julv 7, 1861 John W. Ellis Rowan
7, 1861—Sept. 8, 1862 Henrv T. Clark Edgecombe
8, 1862—May 29, 1865 Zebulon B. Vance Buncombe
29, 1865—Dec. 15, 1865 William W. Holden.... Wake
15, 1865—July 1, 1868 ..Jonathan Worth Randolph
1, 1868—Mar. 22, 1871 William W. Holden3 Wake
32, 1871—Julv 14, 1874 Tod R. Caldwell Burke
14, 1874—Jan. 1, 1877 Curtis H. Brogden Wayne
1, 1877—Feb. 5, 1879 Zebulon B. Vance Mecklenburg
5, 1879—Jan. 21, 1885 Thomas J. Jarvis Pitt
21, 1885—Jan. 17, 1889 Alfred M. Scales Rockingham
17, 1889—April 8, 1891 Daniel G. Fowle Wake
8, 1891—Jan. 18, 1893 Thomas M. Holt Alamance
18, 1893—Jan. 12, 1897 Elias Carr .... .Edgecombe
12, 1897—Jan. 15, 1901 Daniel L. Russell Brunswick
15, 1901—Jan. 11, 1905 Charles B. Aycock Wayne
11, 1905—Jan. 12, 1909 Robert B. Glenn Forsyth
12, 1909— William W. Kitchin Person
^erm of office one year.
2Term of office changed to two years in 1835.
3Term of office changed to four years in 1868.
CHIEF JUSTICES OF THE SUPREME COURT.
1818-1829 John Louis Taylor Cumberland
1829-1833 Leonard Henderson Granville
1833-1852 Thomas Ruffin Orange
1852-1858 Frederick Nash Orange
1858-1878 Richmond M. Pearson Yadkin
1878-1889 W. N. H. Smith Wake
1889-1893 A. S. Merrimon Wake
1893-1895 James E. Shepherd Beaufort
1895-1901 W. T. Faircloth Wayne
1901-1903 D. M. Furches Iredell
1903- Walter Clark Wake
50
PRESIDING OFFICERS OF THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY.
SPEAKERS OF THE STATE SENATE.
1777 Samuel Ashe New Hanover
1778 Whitmill Hill Martin
1778-1779 Allen Jones Northampton
1780-1782 Alexander Martin Guilford
1782-1784 Richard Caswell Dobbs
1785 Alexander Martin Guilford
1786 James Coor Craven
1787-1788 Alexander Martin Guilford
1789 Charles Johnson Chowan
1790-1794 William Lenoir Wilkes
1795-1799 Benjamin Smith Brunswick
1800-1804 Joseph Riddick Gates
1805 Alexander Martin Rockingham
1806-1811 Joseph Riddick Gates
1812-1814 George Outlaw Bertie
1815-1817 John Branch Halifax
1817-1827 Bartlett Yancey Caswell
1828 Jesse Speight Greene
1829 Bedford Brown Caswell
1829-1831 David F. Caldwell Rowan
1832-1835 William D. Moseley Lenoir
1836 Hugh Waddell Orange
1838-1840 Andrew Joyner Halifax
1842 Louis D. Wilson Edgecombe
1844 Burgess S. Gaither Burke
1846 Andrew Joyner Halifax
1848 Calvin Graves Caswell
1850-1852 Weldon N. Edwards Warren
1854 Warren Winslow Cumberland
1856 W. W. Avery Burke
1858-1860 Henry T. Clark Edgecombe
1862-1864 Giles Mebane Alamance
1865 Thomas Settle Rockingham
1865 C. S. Winstead Person
1866 M. E. Manly Craven
1866 J. H. Wilson Mecklenburg
1868-1870
1871-1872
1872. .
1872. .
1874. .
1876-1879
1879-1881
1881-1883
1885-1887
1889-1891
1891...
1893-1895
1897-1899
1901-1903
1905-1907
1909-1911
PRESIDENTS OF THE SENATE.
Tod R. Caldwell Burke
E. J. Warren Beaufort
Curtis H. Brogden Wayne
James T. Morehead Guilford
R. F. Armfield Iredell
Thomas J. Jarvis Pitt
J. L. Robinson Macon
J. L. Robinson Macon
Charles M. Stedman New Hanover
Thomas M. Holt Alamance
John L. King. Guilford
R. A. Doughton Alleghany
Charles A. Reynolds Forsyth
W. D. Turner Iredell
Francis D. Winston Bertie
William C. Newland Caldwell
SPEAKERS OF THE HOUSE OF COMMONS.
1777 Abner Nash Craven
1778 John Williams Granville
1778-1782 Thomas Benbury Chowan
51
1783 Edward Starkey Onslow
1784 (May Session) Thomas Benbury Chowan
1784 (October Session) .... William Blount Craven
1785 Richard Dobbs Spaight Craven
1786 John Baptista Ashe Halifax
1787-1788 John Sitgreaves New Bern1
1789-1792 Stephen Cabarrus Chowan
1793 John Leigh Edgecombe
1794 Timothy Bloodworth New Hanover
1795-1796 John Leigh Edgecombe
1797-1799 Mussendine Matthews Iredell
1800-1805 Stephen Cabarrus Chowan
1806 John Moore Lincoln
1807-1808 Joshua G. Wright Wilmington
1808 William Gaston New Bern
1899 Thomas Davis Fayetteville
1810-1811 William Hawkins Granville
1812-1814 William Miller Warren
1814 Frederick Nash Orange
1815 John Craige Orange
1816 Thomas Ruffin Hillsboro
1817-1818 James Iredell Edenton
1819-1820 Romulus M. Saunders Caswell
1821 James Mebane Orange
1822 John D. Jones Wilmington
1823-1824 Alfred Moore Brunswick
1825-1826 John Stanly New Bern
1827 James Iredell Edenton
1827-1828 Thomas Settle .Rockingham
1829 William T. Alexander Mecklenburg
1830-1831 Charles Fisher Salisbury
1832 Louis D. Henry Fayetteville
1833 William T. Alexander Mecklenburg
1835-1836 William H. Haywood, Jr Wake
1838-1840 William A. Graham Orange
1840 Robert B. Gilliam Granville
1842 Calvin Graves Caswell
1844-1846 Edward Stanly Beaufort
1846-1848 Robert B. Gilliam Granville
1850 James C. Dobbin Cumberland
1852 John Baxter Henderson
1854 Samuel P. Hill Caswell
1856 Jesse G. Shepherd Cumberland
1858 Thomas Settle, Jr Rockingham
1860 William T. Dortch Wayne
1862 Robert B. Gilliam Granville
1862-1864 R. S. Donnell Beaufort
1865 Samuel F. Phillips Orange
1866 R. Y. McAden Alamance
SPEAKERS OF THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES.
1868-1869 Joseph W. Holden Wake
1869 William A. Moore Chowan
1870-1871 Thomas J. Jarvis Tyrrell
1872-1874 J. L. Robinson Macon
1876 Charles Price Davie
1879 John M. Moring Chatham
1881 Charles M. Cooke Franklin
1883 George M. Rose Cumberland
1885 Thomas M. Holt Alamance
1887 John R. Webster Rockingham
1 Wherever towns are given instead of counties, it means that the member was a borough represen-tative.
1889..
1891..
1893..
1895.
1897.
1899..
1901..
1903..
1905.
1907.
1909.
1911..
A. Leazer Iredell
R. A. Doughton Alleghany
Lee S. Overman Rowan
Z. V. Walser Davidson
A. F. Hileman Cabarrus
H. G. Connor Wilson
Walter E. Moore Jackson
S. M. Gattis Orange
Owen H. Guion Craven
E. J. Justice Guilford
A. W. Graham Granville
W. C. Dowd Mecklenburg
MEMBERS OF THE CONTINENTAL CONGRESS FROM NORTH
CAROLINA.
1774-1776 Richard Caswell.
1774-1777 William Hooper.
1774-1777 Joseph Hewes . . .
1775-1776 John Penn
1777-1780
1777-1780
1777-1781
1778-1779
1778-1781
1779-1779
1779-1780
Dobbs
New Hanover
Chowan
Granville
Cornelius Harnett New Hanover
John Penn Granville
Thomas Burke Orange
John Williams Granville
Whitmill Hill Martin
Joseph Hewes Chowan
Allen Jones Northampton
1779-1782 William Sharpe Rowan
1780-1781 Willie Jones Halifax
1780-1782
1781-1784
1782-1783
1782-1784
1782-1785
Samuel Johnston Chowan
Benjamin Hawkins Warren
William Blount Craven
Abner Nash Craven
Hugh Williamson Chowan
1783-1785 Richard Dobbs Spaight Craven
1784-1784 William dimming Pasquotank
1784-1785 John Sitgreaves Craven
1785-1786 Abner Nash Craven
1786-1787 Timothy Bloodworth New Hanover
1786-1787 William Blount Craven
1786-1787 Benjamin Hawkins Warren
1786-1788 Alexander White
1787-1788 John B. Ashe Halifax
1787-1788 Robert Burton Halifax (?)
1787-1788 John Swann Pasquotank
1787-1788 Hugh Williamson Chowan
UNITED STATES SENATORS FROM NORTH CAROLINA.
1789-1793 Samuel Johnston Chowan
1789-1795 Benjamin Hawkins Warren
1793-1799. . , Alexander Martin Guilford
1795-1801 Timothy Bloodworth New Hanover
1799-1805 Jesse Franklin Surry
1801-1807 David Stone Bertie
1805-1816 James Turner Warren
1807-1813. Jesse Franklin Surrv
1813-1815 David Stone Bertie
1815-1828 Nathaniel Macon Warren
1816-1823 Montfort. Stokes Wilkes
1823-1829 John Branch Halifax
1828-1831 James Iredell Chowan
1829-1840 Bedford Brown Caswell
1831-1836 Willie P. Mangum Orange
1836-1840 Robert Strange Cumberland
1840-1853 Willie P. Mangum Orange
1840-1843 William A. Graham Orange
1843-1846 William H. Haywood, Jr Wake
1846-1855 George E. Badger Wake
1853-1859 David S. Reid Rockingham
1855-1858 Asa Biggs Martin
1858-1861 Thomas L. Clingman Buncombe
1859-1861 Thomas Bragg Wake
1861-1868 Vacant
1868-1871 Joseph C. Abbott New Hanover
1868-1873 John Pool Pasquotank
1872-1895 Matt W. Ransom Northampton
1873-1879 A. S. Merrimon Wake
1879-1894 Zebulon B. Vance Mecklenburg
1894-1895 Thomas J. Jarvis Pitt
1895-1903 Jeter C. Pritchard Madison
1895-1901 Marion Butler Sampson
1901- Furnifold M. Simmons Jones
1903- Lee S. Overman Rowan
CONFEDERATE STATES SENATORS FROM NORTH CAROLINA.
1862-1864 George Davis New Hanover
1862-1865 William T. Dortch Wayne
1864-1865 William A. Graham Orange
1864-1865 Edwin G. Reade Person
THE RALEIGH STATUE.
I wish to call special attention to the following letter from General
Julian S. Carr, relative to a penny collection from the public school
children of North Carolina for the erection of a statue to Sir Walter
Kaleigh. At the October (1902) meeting of the State Literary and His-torical
Association, an organization that is doing much for the promo-tion
of literature, the preservation of history and the upbuilding of the
public schools, a resolution offered by General Carr was adopted, request-ing
this collection for this purpose from the school children of the State,
on whose soil Sir Walter Raleigh planted the first English colony in
America, which resulted in wresting this continent from the Spaniards.
I most heartily endorse this idea, and feel that such a collection for such
a purpose from our children would be a fitting expression of gratitude to
this great maker of the first chapter of our history.
I suggest that every school in the State take a collection on North
Carolina Day for the Raleigh statue. All collections for this purpose!
should be sent to Mr. Joseph G. Brown, Raleigh, N. C, treasurer ofj
this fund.
Very truly,
J. Y. JOYNER,
Superintendent Public Instruction.
THE SIR WALTER RALEIGH STATUE.
UTILITY OF ITS ERECTION IN NASH SQUARE, RALEIGH.
To the School Children, School Officers and Teachers in North Carolina:
Nash Square, as doubtless many of you know, is the open square or
park just in front of Union Depot in the city of Raleigh. It is in the
center of this square, in this our capital city, named so fitly in honor
of Sir Walter Raleigh, that it is proposed to erect a statue to com-memorate
his services to the English-speaking people. His efforts to
colonize Roanoke Island connect the history of North Carolina with
that of America at a most vital point. It was in North Carolina, and
through Raleigh's efforts, that English colonization was begun. He is
therefore the father of it ; and it was on our own coast that he began
the operations whose results have changed the current of human affairs.
Any one familiar with our coast and the history of that time can see at
a glance the wisdom of his choice. In 1584, the time of the landing
of his first colony, Spain was the mistress of the seas, as well as of
the land. Her great ships, as well as her great armies, were the terror
of all nations. She had destroyed every vestige of French colonization
begun or attempted on the Atlantic coast from North Carolina to
Florida. Only one good thing was obtained by French exploration,
and that was information of the only part of that coast that was not
susceptible to attacks by large ships; that is the coast of North Caro-lina,
the best protected in the world; and of this information, England,
through Raleigh, and not France, was destined to get the benefit. So
it was not without design and far-reaching purpose that he sent his
little caravels to the shores of North Carolina. It was behind the pro-tection
of her everlasting barriers of sand that Barlowe wrote his fa-mous
prospectus, and Lane made his surveys which electrified the Eng-lish-
speaking people and sowed the seed in the minds of the rising gen-eration
which made the colony of Jamestown, Virginia, twenty-three
years later, and the colony of Plymouth, Massachusetts, thirty-six
years later, practicable. Raleigh's colonies were, in effect, the parents
of all the English settlements in North America. His effort to effect
permanent settlements in North Carolina from 1584 to 1590 was, there-fore,
no failure, and should not be so regarded by any rightly instructed
student of history. To emphasize his zeal and devotion, his faith and
his courage, this man, of whom the world was not worthy, was allowed
a martyr's last privilege of laying down his life and his fortune for
his cause.
Inspired by these things and by the fact that there is nowhere on
earth a monument to Sir Walter Raleigh, and there is nowhere a place
so fitting to erect it as the soil of North Carolina and the city she has
named to commemorate his virtues, a motion was made at the last meet-ing
of the State Literary and Historical Association in 1902 to erect
this statue in the most effective way possible—that is, by penny con-tributions
from the school children of North Carolina; and in order
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to emphasize the utility as well as the adaptation of this method, at
the same meeting of the Association a bag of pennies, one for every
white child in Durham County, was brought forward and presented
as the first contribution to the statue.
So the movement may be said to have been practically inaugurated
by the public school children of one of the most progressive and en-lightened
counties in the State. Since that time many schools and
colleges have sent in their contributions. It is desired that every child
of school age in our State should be given an opportunity to contribute
his penny.
It should be further added that the committee having in charge the
erection of this statue have prepared a calendar for the school children
of North Carolina, containing a synopsis of the principal events in the
life of Sir Walter Kaleigh, and the same will be shortly hung upon
the walls of the school houses of North Carolina. It is requested that
the collections for this statue be made on North Carolina Day, and
that they be sent through the County Superintendents to Mr. Joseph
G. Brown, Ealeigh, N. C.
To the school children of North Carolina and their teachers and
officers is commended the study of North Carolina history, beginning
with the man who was its very source and greatest exemplar—the man
who, with Columbus and the other great explorers and navigators of
that time, gave to the world two continents with all their wealth and
fullness, homes for the teeming millions which now enjoy them. As
you consider him he will loom up and stand conspicuous in that grand-eur
which requires the distance of centuries to truly appreciate.
With distinguished consideration, I beg to subscribe myself,
Your most obedient servant,
Julian S. Caer.